Looking to flip to support my buy and hold addiction

I currently exercise a buy and hold strategy, but have decided to do a couple of flips in between rentals to generate extra working capital. Obviously a flipping strategy is going to be different from buy and hold, including the search and selection process. My HML lender suggested to me to look in my own neighborhood, kind of like a wholesaler. It sounds like solid advice but I haven't done any wholesaling in the past and need a little insight that would play well in the northwest area; I live in Cypress. One of the biggest questions I have is once I find a property that has the signs of a motivated seller, how do I find out who the owner is?

Are there any neighborhoods in Cypress that I should definitely stay away from for flipping purposes?  Also, I am open to dealing with a local wholesaler if the right deal comes along, can anyone recommend one?

Any and all help is appreciated.