I advertise there, on signs, flyers, I mail to preforeclosures, look for vacant property, check listings, cold call...Leads arent knocking down my door or anything, but the most successfull methods for me so far have been the newspaper ad, and just starting conversations with people (ie neighbors of absentees, landlords in the area, friends/family who after knowing what I do, start keeping their eyes/ears open on my behalf)

Seems to me this could get costly depending on how many yl's you send out.I was wondering if anybody out there has tried this method and had success despite the added cost.

I had a bathroom with really ugly tile all around the room, so I had a tub refinishing company (Miracle Method?)

We also learn by combining formal teaching methods with informal methods.

You need very little cash, as opposed to other traditional REI methods and it has potential to provide a nice cash flow.

Wayne,Thanks again for the insight, however when I market and seek out deals i use methods that bring me sellers that I question to see if they would be motivated to discount the property into my ballpark before I show interest because otherwise you are absolutely right I'm wasting my time offering at 60%-65% FMV.

Doesn't the seller have the right to deny an offer if the seller doesn't like the financing method (which I would assume includes using specific brokers).Btw, on top of those two specific questions is this (very real) situation that we often come across -- we'll have an FHA buyer who is using a mortgage broker that we've dealt with in the past.

I often see a 2% selling cost subtracted from a residual value in the direct cap or DCF valuation method for commercial deals.  

After they moved out we found the sink clogged; the usual methods of unclogging did not work. 

What methods have you deployed to protect your property and make your tenants feel safe?