If you're local, you can start by really learning the market by driving the neighborhoods, studying recent sales, and getting to know what areas investors are targeting.

The property has 7 acres with a 3/2 main house and a second separate 2/1 house (which also needs renovation) with its own drive.  

Happy to talk further on the area (we are large enough to offer options to focus on student rentals/UW Madison campus, and anything from Class C to A locations or suburban/surrounding communities) but to help you consider broad initial search, you could start by deciding how important cash flow is. 

Networking with local real estate meetups in Raleigh or surrounding areas could also help you find leads directly from other investors.

. :)Anyway, I like your strategy of driving and looking for houses in need of repair and sending handwritten letters and contacting rentals for the reasons you gave.

You drive and I’ll buy.  

When new construction slows, demand will continue to remain strong, and that is what will drive rents up in 2026 and maybe Q4 (possibly Q3 in some markets) in 2025. 

The good places to start investing at the moment are places within a 10 min drive from main urban centers, and which have different types of residents (not just tourism, not just workers, etc).Feel free to reach out in case we may be of assistance.

.- Generally landlord-friendly state, no rent control- Secure government jobs/contracts make the real estate market much more resilient to recessions / major corrections- 15-minute drive to the Capitol of the United States- 4 Seasons- 15-minute drive to Arlington, Virginia (Amazon Headquarters 2 ((2017 announced, 2030 is bringing 25,000 new high-paying    jobs to the area)), Boeing Headquarters (2022), Microsoft Headquarters (2021), CoStar Headquarters (2024), Bloomberg    Headquarters (2017 expanded), Deloitte, and the list goes on)Thesis:Although more companies continue to go back to the office, there will be a shift toward a good amount of workers being able to be in hybrid roles.

This limited inventory will likely continue to drive prices upward.Sales - Median $/SF by MonthThe $/SF decreased slightly MoM, conforming to the seasonal trend.