I agree that the (same' ole) traditional approaches will reap the same results, so I'm hoping to 'disrupt' the industry's apple cart a bit here by making more intelligent inroads by targeting more 'desirable' clientele, so if by chance this sounds intriguing to anyone potentially interested in investing in a scaleable (online based) alternative to 'business as usual...'

But traditional banks like Wells Fargo are typically harder to get FHA financing with because of the nature of the properties involved in these transactions in the sense that they often need work and can't close quickly like cash or hard money transactions.

We have had a lot of luck with Craig's List but this time we are not getting any responses.  What other listing approaches are there in the Houston area.

But someone who is reaching out for someone to sell the house to, those would be a higher value lead.I currently have a real estate client in my local area that I generate leads for, so while my specialty is online lead generation, I'm looking for alternatives in my local area for my own deals, which is a good exercise for me.

My wife says my trusting, forgiving nature has to be put aside in this business.

The nature of the meeting would determine the type of questions you would ask in my opinion.

Have you found better success with handwritten letters, postcards, handwritten envelopes but printed letters, a mix of multiple alternating?

Most lenders know that something bad will happen - that's the nature of the biz - so they are usually not only looking at the deal and the ability to pay back the loan but also about the skills of the operator to get out of difficult times. 

Perhaps check out Hoods on Natural Bridge for cabinets and countertops and Airport Appliances (pretty much next door to Hoods) and see what your options are. 

Alternatively, you can just find one of the spreadsheets and just start plugging in different offer prices until you are close enough to your desired cap-rate.