How much are you spending?

With these methods, you would be able to reach a large number of sellers without necessarily spending too much per contact, as compared to direct mail.

An active wholesaler and houseflipper in my market says that newer investors should expect to spend nearly $5,000 on 1,000 mailers for 6 months just to generate 1 quality lead (citing a .1% conversion rate).

But their technique is to make it more profitable to save your money than to spend it on real estate and cars (the two biggest driving forces in consumer spending).  

Are you willing to gamble your life and those of your family on, "being accountable for your rentals", "being a good landlord", or "maintaining your properties correctly and being decent to your tenants"?

Hi @Ellen Feiss I agree with @Ty Coutts that you should start with informal, friendly, face-to-face conversations with the tenants to establish rapport, especially as you have some lead time here before next April.People don't like surprises or having to scramble, so if you are able to let them know your plans in advance, if they are reasonable people they should appreciate the extra lead time.This is especially true if their rents are currently very under market - they will have sticker shock when they look at what other units are renting for, and have to spend more time finding a new unit (if you'll be asking them to leave).If you have to move into one of the units yourself, I'm surprised you (or your lender) didn't make it a condition of the purchase and make the seller have the unit vacant for you.Sooner or later in rental real estate, you will have to establish a relationship with an eviction attorney.

well... what about the $80K you spend to get the property?  

@Shai Simchon, and I split the difference here: it matters, like many said, but it is also reflected in your ARV, typically.So, if you have to spend the same amount to buy and rehab a house, and the only option is better school or worse school, I would pick the better school every time, because the ARV is very likely to be better in the better school district, most of the time.  

I'd rather spend time meeting people and fostering real relationships than driving people bonkers with cold calls!

You can spend $1,000 and save a lot of time and filtering garbage, or you save $1,000 but spend a lot of time filtering through many resources of garbage.At the end of the day, like any guru course or even a college degree: you will hopefully learn something.