What areas are you targeting for investing? 

@Jimmy WatsonPay attention to what Jay said...you may go into a deal with more than your target in the deal, but you can do that strategically on some deals, knowing you are going to force appreciation that you can then leverage on the refi to get you down to your target.But, in this market, to get to a zero to low money down buy & hold deal, you're going to have to go off-market.  

Chemical warfare.Biological warfare, folks will go to an infected tree, beetles, worms, fungus and collect the stuff and plant it on the target.

My target return minimum is 18%

This, and with some door reinforcement, it should make it a hardened target, not fool proof, but maybe too much effort.

Our problem is that we are just getting going in a new market, and having houses pre-sold helps give the lenders confidence that we are on target in the new market.

I'd also send letters to neighbors, say 10 houses in the neighborhood so you are not seen targeting foreclosures. :)

If you haven't yet- be sure to setup some "Keyword Alerts" to get into conversation in your target area.

If you haven't yet- be sure to setup some "Keyword Alerts" to get into conversation in your target area.You may also enjoy this post, about multifamily properties: How to Buy a Small MultiFamily Property: A Step by Step Case StudySeeya around!

There is simply no way to be effective with extremely large lists (your just shooting in the dark) shed some light on that 20% and target what they want.