There are still hammers to swing and paintbrushes to wield, but I am starting to look ahead at getting it rented out.There is a light industrial plant (food and ingredients) that is very close to the house... their property line is about 8 houses away from mine, and the house front door is about a quarter-mile walk from the front door of the plant.Even better, the company just expanded the plant with a second building, and have billboards up around town saying "We're hiring!" 

I cover water/sewer at my 80 unit and ended up dividing the bill among the units and labeled it as a rent increase.

I invested in a label maker which really makes a difference in the appearance of the files and easier to file and find stuff.

Send a hand written letter to the owner of each property labeling you as a motivated seller, include the property address, and urge them to call you immediately to make you an offer.Number 3: Put no less than 27 bandit signs out for the property.

Right now I label myself as a hobby investor.

Meanwhile, the extent of the knowledge or experience most of these guys "teaching" have is their own "canned", white label program they bought from somebody who creates those things and resell under their brand. 

Here's the key ingredient: Low competition area.

The cards are all labeled "Return to Sender.  

So your options would be to use your own money for earnest and then get it back at closing as a line item on the settlement statement labeled "return of earnest money".  

The biggest killer for direct mail is the labeling that tells the owner it is an advertising vs. a serious business matter.