I invest out of state and, like a lot of other people, I've discovered that deals are harder to come by then they were 3-4 years ago.  I want to do a mail campaign but am debating the most effective way to go about it.  

Option 1: Do the campaign, take the calls (I live 14 hours ahead of my market so it might be at all hours of the night), set up walk-throughs for my realtor to take a look and potentially make offers.  Then it's a bit of a strange situation negotiating how to pay him as I wouldn't want to pay a realtor commission, and how much of his time I can use/how quickly he will respond to my requests to see a property, etc.  

Option 2: Partner with said realtor.  I pay for the mail campaign, he takes all calls does all walk-throughs and makes offers, handles everything locally.  I do trust the guy as a stand-up person, but then again I'd be investing my own money with literally no control of what happened after mailing the letters.  

Any thoughts or suggestions for how to move forward?