Re: fixers - I'm not surprised; seems like a lot of 'em would hand out high estimates.

I like your ideas about a contest to capture leads, because that way, I am not just there to hand out gifts - it comes with a price, huh?

Now for your instance, hard to say, all depends on your scope of work, how many trades, how long the down-time is, and what you have agreed with your GC.

I know meet GCs through trusted referrals or at trade shows. 

I  can give yu some good pointers though PMGood Luck"@Jason - I was intrigued by your response because my partner and I was literally talking about the very same topic today (absentee mailings).Part of our discussion was mailing to "owner occupied" properties with equity.Obviously there are some minor disadvantages of course such as "waiting for them to move (longer close times)", etc but I agree with your methodology of "thinking outside the box".I'm seriously interested in what you are "doing different" in terms of mailing parameters for these "owner occupied" properties.I don't expect you to "give anything away" nor am I expecting any handouts but my partner and I have dissected this subject over and over and it would be nice to have some insight from someone who is actually having success with these "owner occupied" lists.I'm local here to the SF Bay Area as well and I can't even begin to tell you how many calls I get from people who complain about receiving so many different inquiries from others trying to "buy their house".Any additional insight you can provide on the forum or via PM would be GREATLY appreciated..Jimmy

This can equip you with some handouts etc that provide everyday real estate terms.

It was a great way to build a lot of connections and also went to tradeshows where I met a lot of trade companies, RE lawyers, etc. 

I absolutely can't stand people who get handouts, then still find a way to complain. $1,300 a month will allow you to finance a brand new Porsche Cayman GTS, Corvette Z06, Tesla, any BMW, Mercedes, Audi you want every 6 years for the rest of your life..You can take a one week all inclusive trip to Mexico, the Bahamas etc., every single month for the rest of your life..

I'm going to set myself up with a Google Voice account while advertising and vetting and then hand out my personal cell to tenants who I've signed a lease with.

I would imagine there comes a point where certain types of areas more or less demand that you show up with your hand out, but I recently took over a building in Cicero, IL that had been run like this.