Ive been looking into automated software but every one of them Im sceptical about hidden costs and sharing my leads.

I have leads coming in but due to my job I have a hard time following up in a timely manner.

I have listened to a lot of the podcasts and read a lot of books so I know about the other sources of getting leads but I have a VA loan to use to buy my first property so there are some pretty specific restrictions with that .I'm using the VA loan because I have no money for a downpayment so FHA and conventional loans aren't an option.

Any ideas, suggestions or leads would be much appreciated. 

I find I usually need to go through about 100 leads to find 1 with enough money.

Aside from that and other scenarios that lead to cash flow negative real estate, and assuming no changes in employment, DTI should never be an issue with a real estate investor.

I'm a wholesaler here in Texas and I've been told that the tax delinquent list is some of the best leads if you pull the ones who haven't paid their taxes in over 2 years.The problem is that they're not located in Texas (they're located in North Carolina) and I'm wondering if the same laws and scenario would apply in this state if I pulled the list of tax delinquent properties over 2 years. 

That lead to lots of podcasts, and, it seems, all roads lead to "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and BiggerPockets.

You both may know what each other's strengths and weakness are and if he has a good network and can bring qualified leads, why not use it.  

Of course you would have to "sell" the big guys and lead them to believe that you are fully committed and in it to win it, despite the fact that you have another vision.