Premium increases are rippling through the market; the state is also always going to be financially strapped/high tax due to union pension commitments from past generations and the high tax, high services nature of Chicago.I'd highly recommend getting on a plane and driving around before you buy anything there. 

@William Vreeland, Nashville to Knoxville is a 3 hr drive, so unless you family is consistently in Knoxville, I am not sure how having family in one city is beneficial to investing in another.  

Some are little more that assistants, some have the knowledge and expertise to drive revenue and create more value.

The interactions were mainly me sending places I wanted to go look at, and making offers with very little guidance from them, ultimately only to lose out on the bid.All in all, I've learned that being this early in my investing journey, I need an agent who is not only familiar with investing (or is an investor) but will reciprocate the same dedication and drive. 

Basically, I get very overwhelmed by the bookkeeping side of things.

I know in California it is legal and the state acknowledges it however it does restrict the finder to basically introducing the parties and they can not participate in negotiations, etc.

I've currently been using Deal machine basically doing as you're stating here for wholesale, so how would grumpy hare help?

A few tactics that come to mind are: - creating a single listing page (landing page) that captures contact info - paid social ads that drive to the single listing page What's the perfect use case for a single listing page?

I've had success with letters, driving for dollars, and off market deals.

Many investors in similar positions begin by building a network and learning the basics, such as understanding financing options, which can often be more flexible and approachable than people expect, especially for those just starting out.One suggestion is to set clear financial and personal goals so that you know what you’re working toward with each investment.