That included getting a team in place, educating myself here on BP and other books, actively looking at the market to identify where I wanted to invest, determining my strategy, realizing there was a flaw in my plan, finding a private investor, and finding a deal that met my criteria. 

The vacancy rate in San Diego is somewhere around 3%, the city is growing like crazy, there are already massive developments planned on the east end of east village which will just continue to expand east.

I own a condo hotel in FL and the developer/owner of the building is creating issues w self rentals / self management (i.e.

The land development established and plenty of room for growth.

In this scenario where the seller and the buyer have already been identified and the price worked out would you use an attorney or try to get a fixed price from an agent since at that point all the heavy lifting is done?

In recent years the area surrounding their house has quickly been developed.  

First off, you need to identify if these people were scammed by this common fake PM scam or if they are in fact the perpetrators.

Here are some points that may help others in their letter writing campaign:Be professional in you content - get to the point in the first lineDon't draw pictures on the envelopeDon't draw dollar signs around everything - don't draw pictures of stick housesBe yourself - tell your story; example - we are a family business, looking to purchase additional properties for our family portfolio - we can pay cash but would prefer some seller assisted financing, glad to supply references if needed - we live in the area ----etc.Forget the YELLOW thingDon't tell on yourself, don't call yourself an investor - Don't lie - I can settle in 2 days - we are big (like a made up name -) people like to do business with others they can identify with - be humble if that is possible.As for sending letters to vacant houses that are Free and Clear - why do all that research - a waste of time in my opinion!

Four years ago a little idea started developing: I wanted to make extra income without a second job.  

I have over 11 years of marketing experience developing marketing campaigns with big brands like Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm, 6 years of event production experience and over 11 years as an entrepreneur and small business coach.