Any appraisers out there want to share trade their secrets/methodology?

As a contractor, talk to your contacts in the trades and see if any colleagues of yours have interesting resources.As you tell people you are actively looking for properties, you will get leads.  

To date I've had 1. the plug of a window air conditioner eaten by a large puppy that resembled an elephant, 2. a porch swing partially consumed by the same galoot,  3. flower beds totally destroyed because the dirt is, oh so cool to lay in in the summertime,  4. a carpet scratched down to the subfloor underneath by a dog left in a bedroom and either bored or going through a panic,  5. 

The difference between mastermind groups and your normal REIA is that the members all look out for, trade strategies, challenge and hold each other accountable. 

So just to come out swinging, I did my first deal about 3 months ago.

Again, for those people with much more focus and data resources then I will have much better chances of predicting a "bottom or top" of RE or any other industry curve.For me I INVEST in both stocks and RE, I do not TRADE, which to me means that I am in it for a long period of time until there is a good reason to get out. 

Single family houses do not trade on cap rate, although some people buy them that way; they trade on competitive market analysis (i.e., what people paid for the house next door).

If you have no money and cannot swing a hammer, maybe you can help them find and assess deals.  

Through his connections, he was introduced to a professional realtor by trade who specializes in short term house flips.

I trade Foreign Currency in the early morning and I follow the US dollar pairs.