I do not have a REI club or association in my immediate area, so I will use this forum and read literature to gain some knowledge.

When I first got started I spent my weekends looking at properties and my weeknights analyzing the deals, making contacts, and looking for more deals to look at over the weekend.I would recommend if you are serious about getting into it, then you will need to join a local REIA (real estate investors association) and find someone who wants or is currently doing the same thing you are interested in.

I was recently in a discussion with some real estate associates of mine in regards to the art of following up with a potential buyer.

:roll: Jon Klaus hit the nail on the head - Vacant homes depreciate fast--vandalism, theft, squatters, unfixed problems get worse.

He was saying in the debates that we were headed for a disaster.

RealtyTrac tracked foreclosure-related filings on 2.3 million U.S. properties in 2008, an 87 percent jump from the year before, with 861,664 homes making it through the entire process to become REOs.The Mortgage Bankers Association's surveys of members suggest one out of 10 mortgages was either delinquent or in the foreclosure process at the end of September, and Moody's Economy.com estimates 12 million homeowners are "upside down" -- they owe more on their homes than their properties would fetch in today's market.RealtyTrac senior vice president Rick Sharga told attendees at the Inman News Real Estate Connect conference in New York City this month that an analysis of 500,000 distressed properties in four states in the company's database found only about one in four were listed for sale in a multiple listing service, or MLS.That suggests that as many as 75 percent of distressed properties have yet to hit the market, Sharga said, and that many of those homes will soon be putting pressure on inventory and prices as banks repossess them and put them up for sale. . . .

I spent over $1000 just to get my real estate license and join the multiple listing service, never made a dime, then was told I had to shell out another $500 to join the local association of realtors.

This revelation of the true depths of the crisis bodes well for the bulk investor, it gives ammunition to the skilled negotiators out there who are doing short sales and single REO purchases, and it reminds us all that groups like the National Association of Realtors, that had an affirmative duty to protect us all is finding it increasingly difficult to spin their failures.

Jeff, as David said get assessed value out of your head, it is meaningless.

You planted the idea in the prospect's head and now your competition has reaped the benefits of your marketing.