I am not trying to say that job loss is a leading indicator, but rather pointing out that this period in history is very unique.

Portland is a pretty competitive market for investors, so you will likely want to find off-market leads.

The response rate is extremely low and it requires a lot of follow up in order to generate leads.

If the guy has been there 40 years, who knows what condition the unit is in.

If they failed to turn one in, then you are able to assume that the property was in new condition before they moved in and can charge them for any damages at move out, as they failed to report any existing damages.

For now, I'm focusing on wholesale to help save up money to fund my first flip.From the research I have done I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I need to start my business or form a LLC (of course for a name, website, flyers, etc.) and to start putting in crazy amounts of leg work like driving for dollars and getting some leads together and started up in order to put together a profile to find potential cash buyers..Is there any advice you could give me that would help out with the beginning stages of starting up my wholesale business?

Like I said, you may have a point, that it is more work and leads to more issues, but the bottom line is, that is YOUR job to fix, not the investors/buyers/whomever... 

You could have ordered the appraisal earlier in the process....most people don’t want to spend the $500 until they know they are approved, but it usually leads to “we are just waiting on the appraisal”.

Looking to buy my 3rd rental, first time as a cash deal, and I'm starting to get leads from wholesalers. 

We have worked over the past 3 years to become debt free (student loans) and are now to excited and ready jump into the game.Being new to the area, we do not have many leads on REA who work primarily with investors.