Direct mail marketing in your target market im unsure of.

Hence, the demographic that B/C targets sees lack of supply and hence, rents can be maintained and even grow in markets that are experiencing more saturation w/new class A supply.  

You will be educating yourself about neighborhoods and the numbers over the next several months and analyzing every property that hits your target markets close to your price range.

I think the location of your target property is not a bad place for an initial investment, especially if you will live there for a little while.

I would need the agent to be able to help me with comps for properties I target and write offers to REO's.

The catch is that they need to be similar to your target property.  

Scott's books on flipping and estimating rehab costs are also great sources of info.As far as wholesaling is concerned, Find out: Your target area; ALL costs of a mail campaign (list, letters, postcards, necessary office supplies, postage, etc); budget for 6 months-1year of mailings; develop scripts for prospective sellers (what to say to them); learn to track responses, follow-ups, conversion rates, overall campaign effectiveness, etc.Build your team; title company, RE attorney, cash buyers, closing agents, etc.Feel free to reach out if you need any info.

Knowing your target area is essential and not something you can do with a few superficial conversations with people.

If you are spending marketing dollars you need to make sure you are targeting the right audience "motivated sellers" and you do this by filtering the list you pull.

Should I target the zip codes in poorer areas?