Once I know 2 or 3 areas I want to farm, my plan is to drive them for vacants, see if county code will give me a list of tagged properties, run a search through the appraisal district to find the owners of the vacants I found as well as any out of state owners. 

I always like to use the following example: "You can buy the best building that is fully occupied on 5th Avenue in NYC or on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills but if you make a bet on the wrong person and they run it into the ground then ultimately you will lose your building to the bank and it didn't matter that it was the best building when it was acquired".

Obviously this assumes that there aren't major infrastructure items to be addressed (ie. functioning roof, furnace, hvac, electrical, plumbing etc), but the projects that come to mine for me are painting the interior, granite counters, flooring, and prefab bathroom vanities.Anyone have their list or case studies that they care to share?

my son is a contractor so I get good prices thru him.The town is Meredith, NH.  

When you find your first deal you'll have a ton of questions but that's what the forums are for.One last note, listen to the podcasts, every one of them, while you're driving.

Most important for other newbies and/or people feeling down to get a boost or drive...

This extra money helps defer the cost of doing business (ie - Buildium, cell phone, driving to the properties for showings, cell phone, etc.)

Based on conversations I've had with lenders, I'm told it's important that the buyer's option fee be deposited and cleared thru the seller's bank account to meet lender requirements.  

Why limit yourself when you can do your own marketing, and get tons and tons of leads all for free.Think about driving people over to your website by doing some online marketing, and watch how many leads you can get. 

The main point is that you can sift thru hundreds of blogs,videos ,how to,s and have plenty of community members ,from the new to some very experienced and successful members You can have your deals analyzed, legal questions answered,wholesaling,marketing almost any topic that you can think of.