I am doing some on the ground work to find properties, which is a challenge.   

Now that the groundwork is laid, #2 for everyone should be much smoother!

Sometimes people get paralyzed by analysis, wanting to have 100% certainty, but if you have laid the proper groundwork, you should be able to put pencil to paper or fingers to keypad and figure out what your rock-bottom break even is, your pie-in-the-sky potential, and whether you can settle out in between those two figures, and which one you'll be closer to when you do settle. 

@Sean WaitWelcome to the vibrant BP community.We are delighted to hear that you have taken action and it's gaining momentum as you lay the groundwork for your business model.Good luck and best wishes as you execute your plans to register that 1st deal.Lastly, this site thrives on interactions and as such we encourage two way exchanges and look forward to educational and thought provoking ideas relevant to REI.

I want to start acquiring properties for buy and hold purposes and would like some advice on how to lay the groundwork now before I go to a lender.

I handle boots on the ground work of acquisition, property management and accounting.The Cap rate on the deal would be 10-12% which we would split along with any future expenses and tax depreciation.

Any successful wholesale investors within the DMV area looking to have someone do the ground work for them of finding vacant/distressed/foreclosed homes???

With note investing basically a business-to-business transaction, the time frame is greatly compressed for acquisition, and by buying right, there is room in the transaction to have others do the ground work for you.

You're right to hesitate to buy remotely- I think you'd need a trusted ally, such as a friend or family member, you could hire to do the groundwork for you.

I'm in the process of doing some groundwork to learn my market.