I am licensed and will be locating properties, estimating rehab costs, negotiating deals, and doing some of the rehab work myself typically on a daily basis.

I don't have a specific system in place but I do monitor the classified and all the listings on the MLS on a daily basis and basically keep track of things in my head.

The only way you'll get comfortable with that is to study it daily, learn the neighborhoods, see what's selling, etc.

I've found some instructions on how to go about finding properties from probate.The first step is to check the daily obituaries (for me, they're located on the right part of the screen on this page: http://www.detroitnews.com/section/obituaries) and gather names so I can check them against the county property ownership records to see if the deceased owned real estate.No problem there.The next step is where I'm coming across issues.Step two, is to check the county property ownership records to see if there's a probate property associated the name of the deceased.When I for some of the names I found in the obituaries (http://www.waynecountylandrecords.com/RealEstate/SearchEntry.aspx), I'll find other types of records for their names, but I've yet to find any records for these individuals that are of the types "Probate Court Order" or "Probate File."

I subscribe to about 20 RE feeds and read them daily on my phone when I can (breaks, lunch, etc).

It's in my neighbourhood, so I just pass and take a look at what is happening (but it's not on my normal/daily route).

I've been following the forums daily for months, but just posted my first topic yesterday.

You can't even eat 1 meal at McDonald's for that amount. http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/america-retirement-system-failing-us-economist-153445894.html

I dont believe most of the small guys have a clue what is involved or how it could benefit them, ones I have dealt with are comfortable with eeking out a job here or there to pay for daily life, they have no ambitions for anything more.

Love this site (it's my new daily read).