People refer to this as the BRRR method. 

My goal is to implement the BRRRR method in order to purchase a property every 6 months or so.

You never know what situation a person is in, you may not be aware they would never sell a home through a Realtor, and you may not know they've had their home listed as a FSBO for the past two months with zero traction.On top of that, mailers & canvassing neighborhoods looking for the odd house out of the bunch are good options as well.I've personally never wholesaled before as I got my license when I first started out, but a wholesaler's method isn't much different than a Realtors at the end of the day.

does not mean this will also happen to you.So this is what you do.YOU need to do a cost/deal calculation for every method for lead generation you are considering for your market.Now you know how much money you need IF you were to do DMM, or IF you were to do bandit signs.Now this is DATA, so you are not gambling much here.Then factor in the effort it takes and the time it takes for a deal.Bandit signs may be almost free but it is illegal and a LOT of effort and work, and again risk for hefty fines.DMM simply is a bad idea... so figure out what is feasible and then you go for that!

This is my first investment and i can really use your guys expertise One effective method is to use the MLS and look at units that have leased in that area.

What methods do you all use to protect against personal liability?

the chance of long-term return is much higher with the appreciation method (assuming the property is in a nice location) - so I realize I am willing to hold it if that is the case with this property.What I don't know is - how can I do an assessment or calculation (with assumptions of course) to compare whether one makes sense over the other?

@Greg Dickerson thank you .I did run the numbers as a rental with the four square method and it looks like I’ll cash flow after all expensive about  350 a month with CoC ROI of 9.69% . 

I cannot remember the official term used to describe this method which makes it even more difficult!

Glad to hear the old school off market methods may still have some value.