It is just a matter of how much work you put forth to be a competitor with the rest of the succesful real estate investors.So a few questions to any and all whom may have advice for us on the start of our real estate investing journey...1) What is the best start for a newbie?

Any ideas that you could ethically swipe?

The feel the key is to offer a better product and service than your competitors.

Full disclosure, MQ is a competitor of mine....who taught me most of what I know.The OP's question had to do with direct mail tips.

Worse, I am building a competitor's brand in my own farm area -- all the mail pieces will have his brand and contact info.The wholesaler would be to take any referral business or referral leads generated from the mail campaign.

Bottom line, you will pay more for the "convenience" and perceived "privacy" of selling with Opendoor or its competitors, and in the end, there's really no more privacy either way.

A good way to judge occupancy is to look at competitors calendars on Airbnb.

After the market crashed in 2008 we went on a buying spree from about 2009 until 2015/6 (buy & hold) until the numbers didn't make as much sense as the prices started creeping up again, rent prices were flat and many competitors started entering the marketplace.  

I have found that setting up searches with a realtor has a 24 hour delay in my area which can be the difference in landing the deal and getting beat out by a competitor.

Get to a point where you spend more than your competitors.