It is simple trickle down economics.

Get a website, make it creible, drive traffic to it, and work on SEO.Most of the motivated sellers I get are NOT in forclosiure, are NOT 80+ years old and their houses do NOT have tall grass or are boarded up.Most of my motivated sellers are simple from normal people that want an easy way out without having to go through an agent PERIOD!!

While it may be they are nervousness about the current environment, it can be as simple they want to take a trip.

Here's a simple message sent to our Commercial Tenants of a large Wellness Center that's currently shut down due to covid. 

On the agent side of things, start building your database now...it can be as simple as a spreadsheet or a free one like Hubspot, but you're going to want a way to keep track of prospects, leads, and SOI (sphere of influence). 

My very simple question is... what is a better use of the money? 

If your idea more complicated than a simple informational site you should probably hire a web developer. 

While I do not know the Baltimore market, I wanted to add a simple tip that has worked well for me, and even more pertinent if you are planning on self managing:Ask yourself "would I live here?" 

If you're hiding just that simple fact, you aren't comfortable enough with what you're doing, and that's a problem. 

While I may not have been able to buy a place at 19, I would have been able to go to real estate meet ups, maybe get my license and do some contracting work on the side doing something simple with low barrier to entry such as paint or flooring work