After reading the discussion here, it appears that one needs a strong marketing budget and knowledge of websites and technology to make this a successful marketing campaign.

On the other, the $30k is not so much that it can't be made up for in smart real estate choices and it alone isn't going to let me retire.Hope this makes some sense.  

I just don't see why its a smart play to involve a listing agent into the deal.

If this interests me, then I dive into the nitty gritty details and data fields to flush out the actual apples to apples comps.I'm just about done reading the book "HOLD" written by Steve Chader and some other pretty smart people.

I was originally from NYC and in the Information Technology profession but, some unavoidable circumstances 2 years ago forced our family to moved to Alabama.  

I am curious about this technology, but haven't taken the time to investigate further.  

I asked a similar question a couple of weeks ago and had some responses that might help...Just ignore the Google voice ones:) Here's the thread - https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/80/topics/334271-best-ringless-voicemail-technology?

No extra charge for the maintenance calls (the monthly fee should cover the handling of the occasional calls)No extra charge for the renewal (the monthly fee should cover the handling of the occasional calls)Use self-showing technology to offer low-price ($300?)

@Peter Sanchez I see what you're saying, and that's pretty smart that your lawyer friend does that.

So now we're putting down our roots in SD (she works in Irvine, for a sports technology company, I work in La Jolla for a small asset management firm) and are looking to put some of our hard-earned capital to work in the real estate market.