I have created my own list.  

You may have a great deal or have the ability to create a great deal as mentioned by @Brian Ito but you need to put in a little homework up front and then take your shot from there. 

Right now I'm working on renovating hallway areas of an 8 story condo building and we will be removing (or creating) surplus materials - 8" stained/unpainted egg-and-dart crown molding, chair rails, and more than 200 light fixtures, - all in good condition.

Do your best to keep your Profit and Loss calculations pure and then manipulate those figures however you choose in order to figure your personal analysis.Note that some accounting packages will create a Statement of Cash Flows for you. 

Appraisers often don't assign any value to unpermitted construction and it can create a mess of problems with municipalities. 

I do this because as a investor I expect a minimum 10% return on my money and since it your equity that is actually creating cash flow as opposed to the property it would be negligent of a investor to not attribute a return to that money.

You'll have more options if you a trying to BRRRR since that will allow you to create equity and refinance out a private lender quickly.Small multi family: This would open up the doors to house hacking and allow you to get owner occupied financing which will require much less down when compared to a non-owner occupied.

" So I can use public records to *create* a mailing list, but I can't us it *as* the mailing list, right?

However I am also thinking maybe I can just find/create a deal that will allow me to pay off my bills.... 

I'd start with books: "Multifamily Millions" by David Lindahl and "How To Create Passive Income, Build Wealth..." by Gino Barbaro & Jake Stenziano.