Today's step: find the official list for your county. If there isn't one online, send the records request. Write down where the list came from and the dates it covers. Comment with: "Found it — [type of source], covers [dates]" or "Requested — [office], sent [date]". If the office says it has no list, ask for the existing ledger or report that tracks the money it holds. Don't ask them to build a list for you.

Pick one county and one sale type (tax sale or mortgage foreclosure). That's your lane for the week. Today's step: open the county research sheet on page 19 of the Starter Map and fill in the county, the state, the sale type, and the office that holds the money. Comment with: "[County, State] — [sale type]". Nothing else yet. Tip: pick the county you can actually research this week, not the one that sounds biggest.

Post a short learning summary with no names, case numbers or amounts. Use this shape: "I found [type of record] in [county]. It establishes [fact], but not [missing fact]. My next step is [action]. Which record should I check?" Tonight, 7–8 PM Eastern: office hours with Carl and Matt, live on Google Meet (it's on the Skool calendar). Bring your file and we'll work through as many as we can. A good week is a sourced file or a clearly documented blocker, plus a better question. If you want to keep going with the full written classroom (8 courses) and the private group for 12 months, that's SFS Foundation, $500: surplusfundssecrets.com/operator. No pressure. The free sprint runs again in two weeks.

Fill in the first-file review sheet on page 20 of the Starter Map. Decide: continue, hold, monitor or close, and write down why. Comment with: "[Decision] — because [reason]". "Ready for review" doesn't mean anyone is owed money yet, and that's fine. A clear decision is this week's win.

Today's step: put five rows from your list into your tracker. Five is enough. If you're stuck, write down the exact thing that's blocking you instead. Comment with: "5 rows in" or "Blocked on: [the exact missing thing]". A clearly written blocker counts as progress. It's what you'll bring to office hours.