Kind of like the idea that you can start slow and continue to build on itself as you begin to get responses and make deals.I agree that you should identify your goals, do a little research about average costs for the marketing pieces, and see what you can accomplish right away.

Won't that be faster and more productive?

The lender makes a big difference as well depending on what products they offer.

Explained that one way was fast and the other slow, and sometimes the speed would spark a desire to sell at a low price. 

Initially focused on acquiring smaller (2-4 unit) multifamily product to buy and hold, with bigger aspirations down the road.  

its a pretty typical REO Transaction, I was a Listing Broker for Fannie for years, the process has changed a bit, but the basics have not, dont send them an offer of 50% of list an expect them to accept, just not gona happen (in most cases) the closing can be slow, but most REO's are, and be sure the title company gets a special assessment letter, its often missed.

I bust them up all the time as well I just take it slow and try to remove them intact.  

As for scalability, this is a slow and steady strategy to growth.

But I have heard increasing requests for dashboard-like products that are essentially not connected to any listing but still allow people to keep track of all the properties they look at.If I get back into new product development later this year, I may take a stab.

I had a strong start, but things slowed down when my grandmother was diagnosed with brain cancer.