Congrats on going full‑time and making it through the learning curve! That transition is no joke. Doing 3–4 deals a month is solid, and it shows you’ve built a real system, not just momentum. Love seeing investors who’ve taken their lumps, learned from them, and are now scaling with intention. I’m Raven, working the Triad NC / Southern VA / SC markets, mostly off‑market leads, land, and SF assignments. Always open to connecting with people who are actually doing deals and looking to grow. If you’re partnering or expanding into new markets, I’m down to network and see where our strategies overlap. Let’s keep pushing! There’s plenty of room for all of us to win.

Totally hear you! Charlotte is a hot market, but getting distressed owners to respond can feel like pulling teeth. Propstream sort of things are great for data, but the response rate on cold outreach is always low. In my experience. Reaching out to 50 with no replies is actually pretty normal. Most of the time it takes consistent touches before anyone engages. What’s helped me in the Carolinas is mixing up the approach: - Stacked lists. Absentee + pre‑foreclosure + tax delinquent gets way better response than single‑category lists. - Multiple contact attempts. Call, text, then a simple voicemail. People respond on the second or third touch more than the first. - Driving for dollars. Charlotte has tons of hidden opportunities you won’t see in data. - Skip tracing alternatives. Sometimes Propstream numbers are outdated; using a second skip source can make a big difference. - And you’re right! it really is a needle‑in‑a‑haystack game. But once you get that first distressed seller to respond, everything opens up. You already did the hardest part by finding real buyers who are ready to move. Now it’s just about getting enough volume in your pipeline for the numbers to work. You’re on the right track! keep pushing. Charlotte absolutely has deals, they just take persistence.

Congrats on closing those JV deals. That alone shows you know how to execute. And yeah, I totally get stepping away from your backyard market. Texas is tough when it comes to comps. Being a non‑disclosure state makes everything feel like guesswork unless you’ve got MLS access or a tight buyer network feeding you real numbers. Lead generation and picking a market are honestly the two biggest hurdles for most people. What helped me was choosing a market where the data is clean, buyers are active, and the price points make sense for quick assignments. Once you lock in a market you actually like working, lead gen gets way easier because you’re not second‑guessing every comp or every offer. You’re already doing the right thing by looking outside your backyard, sometimes that’s exactly what opens everything up.

Props to you @Sarah Hardy

Classroom section!