Hang out in divorce court? The only motivated sellers are those in crisis- have to relocate, getting a divorce, lost their job or spouse, etc.
A FSBO would only refuse to sell to an investor if the terms were not satisfactory.
Look for rundown, vacant properties where the For Sale sign is falling apart (they’ve been on the market forever)
There are many lists like the one you mention for sale. Save your money, these are garbage and have been churned and burned.
Realtors have to go out and beat the bushes for potential sellers, they don’t put their names on a list. Once they are established as a reputable agent, they can then depend on a steady flow of referrals.
You can do a public records search through the county appraisers office, at least in Pinellas County. They will even print mailing labels for you for $1 a page. You can’t give them a lot of criteria, but you can ask them to search by certain criteria- ie: SFR’s in zip code 33767, and possibly exclude property values of less than a certain amount.
I have someone whose programmed a much more detailed search engine that ties into this, so it’s been awhile since I ordered labels from the county.
Good luck, and as an investor- be prepared for tougher loan criteria, unless you are paying cash, that is. But you will still want to refinance at some point. Make sure you have realistic exit strategies in place.
I live in Largo and I have 15 years mortgage experience.