then i would send out one of those "we buy houses" postcards to find people that want to sell you properties. 

I have PRIMARILY used Yellow Letters, postcards, signs, company website. 

So we should be getting dozens of postcards and yellow letters from investors, right?

Buyer's List --Find Investors / Rehabbers interested in my area --understand their requirements and expected profit and price range 5 Find --at least Three RE attorneys --for closing --who understands Investors , double closing etc 6 Find and interview at least Three or Four REO listing agents --who may be willing to work with me--use them as my buyer's agent --offer them full commission - 7 Determine Farming Area -- check out for sale and for rent -- evelauate comps and actual sold -in that area - 8 Understand rental demand and rental rates in area --find several rental maangement companies- 9 Detremine Profit Formula -- check Justin's Blog about Wholesaling and my comments --Jason also has some good comments -- Determine your niche price range and minimum profit required. 10.Start checking houses --REOs, FSBOs, MLS etc -- OR you can sign up for $20 to $50 per month --to buy Motivated Seller's Leads-- 11 Evaluate and Start making offers -- 10 per week -- $2000 may not enough --may need to spend $5000 to $10,000 to get lot of leads flowing and get going -- get website , flyers, direct mail postcards , etc -- One other comment-even though -father is a contractor- need to get at least two other contractors for estimate --as matter of second opinion --for at least first two or three properties-- May want to consider renting and holding few homes --since your father is contractor--may save lot on repairs --and pay only for materials --offer equity or partnership for his labor cost --once fixed up and rented out --refinance and get cash out -- Check other topic we had few days ago --about the Key Words-to find Motivated Sellers or good deals --in MLS Good Luck --keep us posted .P.

I had an out state property owner respond to my yellow post card marketing.

There are a few avenues I can think of to find deals off the top of my head:Do your own marketing and find them yourself (for example: send postcards/mailers to out of state of owners)Work with an investor-minded real estate agent who have access to on and off-market dealsConnect with wholesalers in your areas to find investor-friendly, off-market deals Given the competitive nature and lack of inventory, I'd recommend you definitely at least work with an agent and connect with wholesalers.

Personally I prefer postcards to yellow letters.

Here is my approach on the probate:1st mailers are normally just a white professional letter expressing my condolences to the family and just letting them know that I am looking for a house in the general area of the estate and when or if they want to sell to please give me a call.Then a month later i will check back up with them with a yellow letter, hand written, pretty much just letting them know a little more who I am and that I am still interested in there property and leave them with my number to get in touch with me.After another month I will check back in with a post card letting them know that I'm still here and just checking back up with them pretty much.After that last post card i will normally wait 60 days to send another post card, and then that post card will pretty much be the same as the last post card I sent them.

The LLCs are a small portion of the absentee list so I just leave them in my mailings.If they own multiple properties (I do not de-dup my abssntee list when I purchase it) we manually clean the list to send no more than 2 postcards per owner (for 2 of their properties).  

They don't actively advertise it, but if you talk to enough people mingling after the meeting they will tell you.Another way to find money is to put a little plug in your marketing letters and postcards as a P.S.