Also, I searched in the web and found that the book, Building Wealth One House at a Time by John Schaub, is a must-read book for real estate beginners.

First because you are miles away from the target property, sellers will ask more than property value.You can't run out to look at the deal - too far and not practical. 

Our preferred targets have been secondary and tertiary markets as a strategy (quick reality check though, secondary market in Texas are cities with population of 200K+). 

Hello Fellow BPers,I enjoy reading the forums, but there are many times like international trips where I don't have  access to the web, but have time to read.Is there a way I can "download" specific forum topics and read it on my E-reader without internet access?

It's also very difficult to move to a new city and quickly figure out where to target and find a deal.If it takes you 6 mos to source a deal and another 2-3 mos to find contractors to get started, you'd be looking at a lot of nights in an expensive hotel.While this may make for a great experience, it's not likely that you'll make much money doing it.

If I have a small list (200 letters or so for my really targeted niche list), I'll still DIY it.

Check out --http://www.lonestarlandlaw.com/Lease-Options.htmlIf you're looking to find Sellers and dont have much money, then to get started you can generally stick to the traditional methods of scouring craigslist ads and other websites for sellers that are renting or selling their own home, making bandit signs to display in your targeted area, networking, handing out business cards, placing an ad in the local newspaper, driving for dollars, sending personalized letters to specific targeted houses, and doing some minimal direct mail marketing in a focused area when you find a good deal on printing/shipping.

Should I just target the petitioner? 

In Silicon Valley doing a web search for "city name comprehensive financial report" will almost always find it for the "city name" you are interested in.

Sent to a very targeted small list.