Hi Patrick, I haven't read through all of the replies to your post, so perhaps you've found the answer you were looking for, but I thought I'd throw my experience in the ring of my first investment property since I was in a similar situation as you.The first (and currently only) property I bought was in an up and coming neighborhood in Tacoma, WA back in 2016.

The one challenge with market cycles is no one rings a bell at the bottom or at the top.After the Financial Crisis of 2008, for example, the financial media was looking for "green shoots" as an indication the economy was recovering.

We are planning on moving to Houston in 2023 and want to build up some passive income up here in milwaukee to aid us in the move, our wedding the week before the move, her grad school the year after we move, and of course our mortgage.

I have a positive cash flow of 4,853 after all is said and done on my first unit, and I feel good about it..I would like to put together a portfolio of 4 to 5 positive cash flow properties -that are similar in size and price -before getting back in the ring with buildings..Learned a lot from the BiggerPockets Community, thanks y'all !!!!! 

Account Closed -  there is a great group of Memphis REI that meet every weds at 7:30am at city and state code on broad.Welcome to Memphis!

Not everyone has the type of budget required to get the 1000-4000 cards out the door ,especially starting up, and some of us need more deals, want to work a smaller market, or need to cut the expenses down somewhat.Some people have plenty of time on their hands and If your phone isn't ringing, you need to have a mix of prospecting and marketing to maximize your time usage. 

Cold-Calling Absentee-Owners, getting REAL comfortable with the word "No." and having people you've never met before telling you to "Go F yourself" Stressing out when you haven't gotten a deal yet, and you feel like you're running out of Time, Resources, and Motivation to try to get this deal done.These are all examples of Normal Parts of Wholesaling.Then, one day..The phone rings, your heart-rate increases, your palms get sweaty, you grab your notes, Your script, your ARV's, Your Comps, Your Contract, Your PSA...

I utilize infusionsoft tied with ring central which feeds my call center all of the scripts and data that they needs. 

And I immediately scrambled to buy the list, prepare my custom yellow letter, buy a new ring central number, and by the time I got to the promo code screen it was 5:32 and it says the "promotional code does not apply".

I have to say this is a little bit ingenious, even though it is obviously fake!.