Based on our experience here is what we've found...Handwritten yellow letters certainly get your phone to ring more but the quality of those leads isn't as good as a typed letter.

I look forward to the phone ringing daily.

I can't give any advice here because you have to play the situation by ear and use your gut.  

I just had a wax ring and closet flange replaced and they used plaster of Paris under the base.

Relax, read, go to the wholesaler’s forum and read, go to your local REIA club and listen and watch, be yourself, keep your eyes and ears open.

You want to take that route and I'll challenge you to back up your mouth in the ring.

Still keeping an eye and ear out though.

BBrian,I try to stay with leads where the people actually have asked for help to stop foreclosure or have requested an offer from investors because they need to sell fast.The benefit of these leads is that they come with the owners name and phone number and sometimes email address and the owner has given his permission to contact him.That way you can connect directly with property owners that want to talk to you instead of just waiting for the phone to ring.

In addition, you should be building a relationship with a local experienced broker who specializes in working with investors to be your eyes and ears. 

I then set followup sequences inside of my CRM which notifies me when it's time to give a cold lead a ring again.I've seen my response rate go from a 1-2% to around a 4-7% increase when i added cold calling.The beautiful thing is this entire process is now outsourced and it makes my business more profitable and gives me more time during the day.