They're easy to set up and maintain and can help you establish your brand in the market.That said, I also agree with Ned though that you shouldn't wait until you have one to get started.

I'd advise you to find local investors and begin establishing relationships with them.     

so much of this kind of work is establishing some sort of personal reparte'I will be curious to see how well US folks respond to you... just logistically our night is your day etc.and it will really depend on the sophistication of the sellers rep or relative.I know these styles of transactions we personally do here in our market need a bunch of hand holding and porch time... at least for the very good deals.. 

@Alex Gershbeyn  as stated above RM  started long before they established a relationship with the broker dealer.. by having the broker dealer on board they open up funding opportunitiesWE see your new to BP  but since you have been doing multiple investor deals for years curious what vehicle you use to pool your investors ?..  

For people that work fairly quickly, do you just have an established reliable crew already?

And usually will refinance them a year later after I established a renter to improve my cashflow.

Hey Joel, I'm not a wholesaler (not my niche), but I would certainly add to the list the purchase and sale agreement for your seller to sign thereby securing the property under contract and if your list is in order of 1st to last, I would place establishing a buyer's list as number one, even before initiating your marketing campaign to prospective motivated sellers.  

The neighborhood my rental house is in is an older established neighborhood with no new construction.

By 2017 Q2, I hope to have established a family owned investment company. 

Above all else, I'm looking to continuously gain knowledge of real estate, and establish viable connections within BiggerPockets and in the field.