How hard can it be to start a research program about an area where I want to buy an investment property? 
Roadblock 1
Contacted the local paper, the Merimbula News, to try and get a subscription. Guess what? They do not have a subscription program all the papers are either home delivered in the area by paperboys or available via the local newsagent. So I end up getting my dad to post the paper to me each week once he has read it. I guess this is the first example of a city versus country lifestyle. Armed with my weekly local paper I start to get an idea of the property market. 
Roadblock 2
Hey here I am, a really hot prospect, getting ready to purchase an investment property, I must be every Real Estate Agents dream. I decide to craft an introduction letter (Real Estate Agents Introductions) outlining who I am and what I am looking for and post it off to the seven real estate agents in the town. All I have to do now is to wait. So I wait, and wait, and wait some more. Nothing; not one response. What’s going on here? It can’t be this hard; after all I am the client. O.K maybe the market is slow, so there is more than one way of killing a cat, so I decide to take things into my own hands. I contact the local newspaper and get a quote on some display advertising. For just over $500 I can get 12 weeks 12×7 display advertising in the local paper. I craft two different adverts and book them to rotate equally for the next 12 weeks.

Advert 1
Know a deal when you see it?
Interested in real estate? 
Time to spare? Investor seeks local “eyes & ears” to help
assess prospective residential purchases. 
Suit retired:
Valuer 
Builder/Developer
Architect/Draftsman 
Occasional work only 
For details contact: 
Alex Cochran 

Advert 2 
Thinking of selling?
Serious investor wants to buy properties. Maintenance or repairs no problems.
Quick decisions. 
Contact
Alex Cochran 
 

Now I can sit back and see what happens.