Build your credibility stack now: brief 1‑page story, sample underwriting, references, and a weekly update email to your network.

Right now wholesalers are mainly doing:SMS TextingCold CallingDirect Mail / PostcardsThe “next level” is PPL (Pay-Per-Lead) through lead generation companies, so you’re only paying for conversations that raise their hand.Most people start by pulling lists of sellers in distress (pre-foreclosure, tax liens, probate, divorce, etc.) and then stacking those lists so you’re not just hitting one pain point but several.On top of that, a few other things are working well right now:PPC / Google Ads – motivated sellers often search “sell my house fast” before answering cold outreach.Facebook/Instagram Ads with strong local targeting.Driving for Dollars apps (batchdriven, dealmachine) paired with skip-tracing to hit niche properties others might miss.Follow-up systems – 70% of deals come from nurturing leads over time, not just first contact.What seems less effective today:Bandit signs (cities are cracking down, saturation is high).Generic postcard campaigns without a targeted or consistent follow-up strategy.Mass cold email (deliverability has dropped a lot).The real key is consistency + multi-channel.

Happy to run numbers with you if you want to see how it stacks up against your VA loan or heloc idea.

For cold marketing, we need to take a broader approach since we're stacking the funnel of quality leads. 

But for those playing the long game in real estate, the code is stacked in favor of building wealth tax-efficiently.Curious what others here on BP think:Have you used cost segregation or bonus depreciation in your deals?

Position on the capital stack - it's usually 1st or 2nd line position and gets paid out before equity. 4. if you do notes within an ira/roth Ira, you can have the money be tax deferred (if traditional Ira) and tax free which allows your money to compound quicker as you don't have the tax drag. 

Personally my tech stack looks like this:Docusign - signing leases (technically rentredi can do this I think, I'm just too lazy to change)Rentredi - applications for properties, tenant payment platform, maintenance request trackingBaselane - Banking (you may not need this yet with only one property but SO great to have multiple accounts for multiple props)Notion - SOP docs, how to's, general instructions in databases and pagesTango - use to record step by step instructions of specific tasks and link in Notion pages where necessaryI also self manage, and most of my communication is with tenants, handyman, and occasionally banks, so I don't have a great rec for how to most effectively communicate with a PM, however if you have a project database set up in Notion it should be easy to create the steps you want and track how you like

I know residential issues are different, so I’ve been making an effort to learn more about those separately since I know they’ll come up when I start investing.Right now my main focus is being disciplined with my finances and stacking capital for a down payment, so that’s where most of my energy is going.

Things are stacked so densely against walls of the courtyard (consists of walls from the garage, house, and fence) that you can’t inspect the outdoor walls (this was in the inspection report). 

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer—it’s more about your risk tolerance, financing strategy, and long-term goals.You’re on the right path—keep building relationships in Huntsville and stacking knowledge as you plan for 2026.