The people I see who get consistent distressed homeowner leads are doing a combination of door knocking and mailing.

Your best bet is to create dynamic dashboards to combine all these items together in an easy to understand manner.  

For example, perhaps their property would be a good location for billboards, washer/dryer services, a cell phone tower, or vending machine.

Does it have washer/dryer hookups?  

There are of course some other things that you can do in the meanwhile, including importantly 1) Save, 2) Save and 3) Combinations of points 1&2.Most HMLs will want you to have skin in the game.

One path I am considering is doing a combination of BRRR/flipping vacation cottages in NW Michigan, while also operating a vacation rental property management company.

Getting married in May- combined income hovers around $250k (if that matters).In addition to a major repiping project, we’ve outgrown the apartment and are ready to make a move come early next year.

I know couple of folks in TX do really well with their rental from container as well (combination of 40', 20' or both) 

Two washers, dryers, and two refrigerators.

We are all troumaticed from what happened ten years ago, but that was not an economic recession, it was a sub-prime mortgage crisis combined with a overproduction on new homes (a LOT more supply than demand, often driven by speculation and hot money).