Again, not sure if this was just above-and-beyond work from my realtor or if that is industry standard.As a realtor, have you ever purchased an asset in this fashion; going from realtor - to - investor negotiations? 

But I am old fashioned, that has been the only area I have had any success in.

Related, don't nickle-and-dime your customers, respond to them in a timely fashion, and do the right thing and you'll quickly rise to the top.   

(Side note, I usually consult with my friends on important decisions, but when we first started real estate investing I actually lost a circle of friends over it, in a quite public and spectacular fashion, so now I keep it close to my chest.

We stay with our borrowers through out every step of the commercial lending process to ensure the loan closes properly and in a timely fashion. 11 Capital Finance personally handles all title insurance issues, property insurance issues and does all of the coordinating with every party involved in the transaction for our clients.

If you're one-and-done you are leaving most of the meat on the table because these folks are, by definition, vulnerable and scared.You can supplement your marketing with mailings and phone calls, but nothing beats good old fashion door knocking where you can see the house, talk to the neighbors, get a sense of the borrower's grasp of the situation, etc.Remember that a lot of these people have creditors bugging them all the time.  

In a similar fashion, if you can imagine how much landscaping and underground infrastructure is in a golf course as compared to the clubhouse, that will give an indication of why an extremely high percentage of the property's value is allocated to the land improvements.

I've thought about t old fashion way of fixing my credit and waiting until I can get approved for financing, tax liens, or wholesaling. 

Older houses had cast iron pipes, the over the years galvanized pipe and then copper came into fashion.

I have a job way outside of the real estate sector, and I am finding that I just can't get my hands on that other vital source of information, which is the people who have been in the business for years, and have that incredible amount of knowledge gained through good old fashioned experience.