I don't want to burn my Saturdays running around unlocking doors for prospective buyers/tenants or meeting up with contractors to pay them or sitting in front of the computer on a Sunday night to make sure I get the craigslist ads posted, and then turn my phone volume on max loud to make sure I don't miss any calls about my properties. 

Based on the volume of sales I'm doing it has paid for itself many times over.

This property is also in a high volume vacation rental location where most properties rent for $175 - $400 per night.

He also said that the fee can be waived for HUD houses or when a certain amount of volume is met for the year (after 3 purchases I believe).

Inventory and volume are both really low, so there likely be high volatility depending if buyers or sellers emerge in the spring, personally see a small increase or aggressive appreciation if inventory stays low (2-3 months of current inventory).    

I'd highly recommend tailoring the amount of mail you send to the amount of call volume you can handle.  

Massachusetts as an example.Is there a particular sweet spot (lower end of the market vs. middle or high end) for doing high volume wholesaling?

Sorry to be the bearer of negative news but I want to set your expectations for reality.Article about NOVA market volume and price changes recently:http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_dc_housing_market_recovery_in_graphs/6871http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/downtown_falls_church_staying_the_same/4552sign up and read urbanturf emails too to keep an eye on the DC/ NOVA markets and recent sales so you are aware of the state of markets...

There is so much emphasis on loss mitigation, loan mods, negative publicity and just trying to handle the sheer volume of defaults that I cannot imagine a lender/servicer making judgment chasing part of their business model.

Except I renamed her as "Sarah Heartburn".