- Map the landlords in your radius1 hour 30 min
This step produces the working list every later step feeds on: 20–30 landlords managing roughly 5–50 units inside a practical travel radius, each with an owner name, a building address, and a phone or email. The trap is that the easiest buildings to find — corporate complexes and rent-regulated towers — are the ones that will not buy from you; they have staff and lawyers for this work. The list’s value is contact channels, not completeness.
Start with the county property appraiser or assessor site — search “your county + property appraiser parcel search”. It is free, official, and names the owner of record for every parcel. Filter for small multifamily: apartments and 2–4 family buildings up to about 50 units, reading the county’s own class codes. Mark any owner that is an LLC, corporation, or management company as out of scope. Then mine rental classifieds — Zillow Rentals, Craigslist, local Facebook groups — for addresses listed repeatedly by the same individual. Ask two real-estate agents who close small multifamily deals to name five self-managing owners each. Attend one meeting of the local landlord association or owners’ group; a guest fee, if any, is still pocket money. For each candidate record the owner name, address, unit count, channel, and source.