Yes I'm fishing a little, but hey I like to fish.All yellow letters say a simple message "if you know anyone interested in selling, please call me at" It was a technique I heard on the second podcast about not being too assertive in your direct mail message.

This implies the $200/month cash flow in unlikely to ever be worth more than the $200.I recommend all investors start local but you seem to be adverse to that so I will go with another one of my common assertions: The only Midwest investing that makes sense for most Coastal So Cal/San Fran RE investors is true MF (5+ units).  

If what you must do is not what you can do, you have an issue.Your entire problem is a lack of assertiveness.

Strawman, attribution, proof by assertion, Red Herring, and cherry picking. 

A contract binds you to meet it's obligations it does not bind you  to assert it's rights.Forgoing of a contractual right is a time honoured widespread business practice.

I'd love to hear any more suggestions, particularly on resources for maybe learning to deal with conflict and for being assertive (which I usually have no issue being, nor do I have leadership problems, I've been in management for years!!)

I've been assertive but polite with them but they just don't don't want to work with me. 

Of course, regardless of which answer you give (unless you disagree with both your statements), it contradicts your assertion that the 50% rule is a good one for *all* investors...Btw, Mike, I'm not trying to be attacking...I actually really like your style of investing and your perspective on a lot of topics (I've learned a lot by reading your posts)...I just think you're taking a bit too dogmatic approach on this topic, and am actually enjoying the debate

What I am sure about is that we're in for a collapse of our economy and there will be a lot of suffering.However, his assertion that the free markets caused this mess is absolutely wrong.

If you're proactive and assertive from the beginning, people will know you mean business and be less likely to screw you.