If you have the time to devote to it, direct to seller methods can be very effective, but will take ultra-patience and intensive work. 

They must sign the form.The IRS offers an online tool that lets you check if the tax ID the contractor gave you matches the IRS records.

Even then its often more cost effective to work more with what you have. 

Are there any tools or strategies you swear by?

Make the most of the excellent tools available on this platform.

Be sure to check out the free tools BP provides to help analyze deals you may have and also market insights.

I'm in very similar position, looking to start my RE investing journey around Boston area and facing struggle to cash out on my stock portfolio to try to get a MF, that using BP analysis tools, will be barely break even...even in slightly farther surrounding areas. wishing us both luck though! 

Even though the interest rates are high, it’s a great tool for people who don’t have all the cash to do a fix-and-flip. 

After tons of research, we've found that the resources, tools, and ongoing support they provide are truly unmatched.

However, many times its just not practical or cost effective to put the work into it because in many cases its not easy to do.