Stuff can be uncovered that is otherwise missed.

That person was so nice that he even called back later to ask me if the issue had been resolved.

That said, our short sale marketing (direct mail) efforts have uncovered a lot of sellers who are on the edge of being able to sell for enough to pay off their mortgage and not have to short sale (the market is improving).We refer these leads to another agent we work with, and she's keeping pretty busy with these leads.

You're behind already but if you want to analyze further you may uncover opportunities to increase the value and make the deal work...

And again, DO NOT let her near your property until you have completed all of your due diligence.. . . and if you havent uncovered any derogatory information, it is because you havent looked hard enough!

The town has a lot of older buildings and houses that have been kept up so nicely, it just oozes charm... anyway, I digress..

Then, between numbers 11 and 12, the company I worked for sold out and left town... it was so nice to have someone to full time look after the properties that I have stayed unemployed ever since.

Speaking from the point of a realtor, I agree with James Wise I work hard to network with other agents and uncover the best deals possible for my investor clients.

@Patrick Baker as others have stated, a few years ago you could do that with very little out of pocket, I'm in the Dallas market now, good deals are hard to find, especially if you want good neighborhoods.Three deals in your first year is a very realistic goal, don't buy all 3 at once, buy the first watch the process, get it rented, move to the second,,by the time the second is in rehab its time to start looking for #3.Choose neighborhoods wisely, that's the most important part, if I have to end up paying 90% on a house in a neighborhood I want, vs a super deal in a not so nice neighborhood,,I will take the 90% deal all day.

." - The Real Estate Guys A nice strategic by-product of the above exercise is that you might make some great new contacts in these markets & even uncover hidden deal flow.