Direct mail will cost a little bit of money, but if you do a lot of the work yourself, it is mainly sweat equity. 

The profit should be split based upon whatever agreement the two of you come up with.It would be unfair for you to put in the majority of sweat equity as well as the training involved to have a 50% profit split.

Developers make money on top of what they pay builders, If I were to hire a builder directly you would think I would retain the "sweat equity" that normally the developer would take on top right?

Don't sweat any deal.

The most effective way to do this would be a basement unit, as they tend to cost much less than backyard cottages ($50,000 - $150,000 is a good estimate for a basement unit build, or way less if you throw in sweat equity or cut corners, while a 700+ sq ft backyard cottage will usually cost you $200,000+)Right now I like Kent/Des Moines (because of the upcoming lightrail stop), Renton & Everett (low prices, good multifamily opportunity), Tacoma (wonderful place to live, few good jobs, but may be revitalized further by upcoming light rail stops and more companies switching to Work From Home), and the Beacon Hill and Hillman City neighborhoods of Seattle. 

Part of that, I am convinced, is that they need to know their landlord is not too good to sweat and stink under their sink when they're in trouble.

Welcome to the university of real estate investing, I say.I am putting in a lot of my own sweat equity and that, alongside with business meetings with the wife, networking with other investors and all the communications with my real estate agent, insurance agent, lenders, contractor and subcontractors, are accumulating to the point where I can likely achieve the 750 hours of real estate work required to designate myself as a "real estate professional" on our next year's tax return.

Don't sweat it @Shane Willcox !

I always removed them from my existing mailing list if asked, but if I got a new list some how that they were on, I didn't sweat it.  

Most of the airheads that cause these problems have entirely too much time on their hands and they use it to inconvenience other people.Don't sweat it.