The reason I ask is because your lending options are a critical piece to being a "buy and hold" investor. 

Joists which have been "notched" or completely cut to accommodate some "update" can create severe structural issues causing leaning floors and tight doors.Others have already mentioned asbestos/lead based paint issues, however you rarely see remediation costs mentioned...they can be VERY high, and the fines for violating Fed/Local EPA laws can start at $11,000 for a first violation.

I'm late to the game so I'm still making my way through One Piece.

My thoughts were that I needed a structured environment and a piece of paper to let me know that I had acquired a skillset.

My initial motivation stems from the dream of being an entrepreneur who works for themselves and schedules their own life, not an employee but an EMPLOYER.HOWEVER, hard work gets everyone tired and with fatigue and exhaustion we all lose a piece of that motivation, what keeps me going is surrounding myself with other investors, seeing people of all different walks of life come into this industry and creating success, makes me think, why not me?

Im familiar with Nimius, In fact I met the owner of the company a few weeks ago at a local meetup and a lot of people I trust would recommend them, so I think this might be a case of "you cant get blood from a stone" Th best piece of advice I can give for both of you would be to check out some of the local REI groups.

The crash coarse would be to read:- BRRRR by @David Greene- Long Distance Real Estate Investing by @David Greene- The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs by @J Scott- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (Important for that Networking Piece) - What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know about Cash Flow ... by Frank Gallinelli (To bolster your knowledge of running the numbers) If you want to go a little deeper, I love the CPA advice on BRRRR from @Brandon Hall.Listen to Podcast 327.

As an example, you could just right on a piece of paper that you are selling a piece of property to a buyer. 

But if direct mail is the way to go...what is a good 'rule of thumb' for the minimum amount or DM pieces that should go out monthly?

Hi BP,I've been brainstorming ideas for low-budget and creative direct mail pieces (I have already sent 3 rounds of postcards to absentee owners, but I think it's time to change it up a bit).