A strategy I have even seen employed is someone taking a 5 unit property, combining 2 of the units to bring it down to a 4 unit in order to unlock value on the sell side, since it is more valuable as a 4 unit than a 5 unit.One other consideration is the time value of investing in real estate.  

IMO for or someone like @Michael Blitshtein overseas this is a much more reasonable method to deploy his available 30 K across  5 or 6 diverse investments and reduce his risk and management headache vastly as compared to one 30K D grade property.

The top 3 marketing methods that work in most markets are:1) Google AdWords (paid search, NOT any type of display including Facebook display ads)2) Direct Mail (especially to absentees with more than 40% equity)3) Outdoor (billboards and other types of signs or outdoor displays)

If your current objective is to explore other markets for possible investments, I suggest you get methodical about it.

Under these circumstances, and if you're working with a good CPA, you will likely be able to substantiate investment intent subjecting the profits to short-term capital gains and avoiding self-employment taxes.

I too employ a similar strategy and it's worked great...

Looking to REI to escape employment, fund my four kids' education and support philanthropic endeavors.

Wholesaling and flipping are (usually) self-employed jobs.

Or is there a completely different method to all of this? 

General population, school population and employment in the area are factors I would look at.