Just look for cities that have had flat or falling populations.

Contractors (such as they are) are just CHEAP in some areas.Got a friend that just bought a 3 flat for next to nothing in Indiana, and another investor that just got hold of a $1.6MM multi-family property (valued at $1.6)-- 100% owner financed and the positive cash-flow is a little over $9K per month.Another guy is buying all over the place- not meth labs, either- for $5,500 ; $8,000 and getting crazy prices- rehabbing them for $3,000 to $15,000 and getting $30K and up.

Anyway, back to my point.......I just flat got rejected on about half of my offers, half became counter offer situations, and I even had one REO I was trying to purchase and surprisingly the bank went back and forth with me for 5 counter offer sessions.

By 'share the profit' I mean pay a fee based on the deal closing rather than just buying a list of names for a flat fee.

Just tar the hell out of the flashing.We have flat roofs here on the backs of homes like little living rooms.

Plus, that rush you feel in the depths of your belly when you knock on a stranger's door to talk to them about their woes is better than jumping out of an airplane.If you go the door knocking route, be aware that most people will not be home, so leaving a bulky package with a handwritten note also got me a decent response.

"Junk Mail" or as I like to call it "Belly Touches" When we get out mail we grab it with boths hands and use our bellies to hold it as we sort through it...

Purchasing Countrywide did as much to save Bank of America, whose stock would have taken a massive hit if Countrywide went belly up, as it did Angelo Mozillo (who nows gets to avoid the possibility of jailtime if the company did crash and declare bankruptcy).

Even in our flat market the prices of the houses that are selling is higher every quarter.

The key advantage is that the seller is typically only paying half of the “standard” listing fee plus the flat fee, which is around $500.00.