You stumbled upon one of the best real estate investing sites on the internet!

I'm new and I want to buy my first property for dirt cheap. how do I get past the horrible site of the inside and focus on the possibilities.

The site iComps gives me the most past sale to refer to .

I am in the process of finding my first mailing list,  for a direct mailing campaign, the site I've read about  (findmotivatedsellers.cm, listsource.com,etc) all have terrible reviews. 

I would analyze it both ways:Current Rents - Determine my offer based on how it's currently performingAdjusted Rents - Determine how it will perform once I get it stabilized at market value

Wait a bit to understand how your property performs and readjust your strargey for next one. 

I don't know whether this is typical, but my experience is based on several years buying foreclosures, and my wife as a VP for a finance company with non performing loans, many of which were real estate.First, for the foreclosures I looked at, most if not all were at public auctions.

For instance, what if I identify a property for the exchange, but then, after performing due diligence, decide against purchasing the property due to a defect that is uncovered during the inspection?

Value it entirely on existing performance.

You stumbled upon one of the best real estate investing sites on the internet!