I've heard bad things about the area and am getting cold feet, but would like to hear from some locals regarding whether these fears are warranted.

Having cold feet!

Now, I'm thinking we need a VA to help, a CRM database, and a process for finding leads (have the VA cold call and skip trace??).

Hot cold, etc.. what are the comparable properties and do they have multiple upgrades? 

Currently my only marketing channel is mls through a real estate agent
My goal by the end of next week is to figure out which websites to pull lists from and start to build a list of potential properties to analyze....

Some things that I have done - networking, cold calls, PPC, SEO, purchased leads, reviews, videos, the list goes on and on.

My cold caller even said it was the worst data he's ever seen in 3 years.

Explaining how bad it is to let a house get that cold.

, what made you feel secure taking the leap with hard money and going after that first flip.Partnering with an investor or doing seller financing would be ideal, but I'm still growing my network by cold calling other investors and real estate agents and attending local events.

Do you know what the conversion rate is on cold calling these lists?