There are some hot intown areas of Atlanta as well!

Brian Sherman Midtown, buckhead, Sandy Springs, and Dunwoody are all pretty hot areas right now.

The issue with carpet cleaners you buy is that they just don't heat (or keep) the water hot enough and (as pointed out) drying time seems to be much longer.If you find a local carpet cleaner service (as opposed to one of those national companies) they tend to be less expensive.  

Read as much as you can about Real Estate Investing, (I have bought the Bigger Pocket books and love them (Un-paid plug here) Listen to the Pod casts from BP, I have down-loaded them and listen to one every day, great Juice for the Mind and really opens your eyes to strategies you can exploreStart simple, by this I mean look around your own town, study whats hot, whats not and whats going to move ahead, by this I mean look for areas close to Down Town that are showing signs of new life, this is a sign that often old and ugly areas are now starting to transform and you can get in on the ground floor and great prices.

It brings up a rhetorical question (I don't need or want an answer, the question and logic of the question answers itself, hence, it's rhetoric):  If these leads are so hot, why aren't you partnering with a few wholesalers and sharing the wholesale fee rather than charging a flat fee for each lead?  

The market is red hot right now - be very careful with your deals and don't buy because everyone else is rushing in.

A few months are spent learning, a few month marketing, a few months analyzing deals, and other months placing a buyers list together and finding deals that are hot to them.

is it just when you run the hot water?

Some auction sites want 5%-10% down.When it comes to private sellers in a hot market, a larger check seems to make a psychological difference.While I don't wholesale, I think $100-$500 should be ok.

Since my brother and family in Charlotte and it is a very hot market as well, deciding to invest there.