Looking For A Boost... Any Advice..."you Probably Have Been In This Shoe Before"
I find myself behind on the good deals... Am turning the corner to late or just plain out missing them.. what are some helpful tools i can use to make connection with owners who are willing to sell. Should i send a letter to every address on the block looking for a potential seller in return?? I act upon quickly however am either too late or they are not interested in selling. The area is flipping over.... Again how can i get a piece of the cake... 
Try to get your start by focusing on a blue collar neighborhood. Locate some run-down houses - verify they are rentals (if you can through the county somehow), then call the owners - If they are not interested in selling you can always let them know you are an investor with a significant portion of your investment in the area near the house they own and you'd like them to fix it up to maintain the neighborhood (i actually like this approach as it shows them I really care about the homes in the area) - they'll initially be a little angry with you but when you offer to help them for free by sending photo's periodically, etc, you'll get your "in" and then when they see you are for real, perhaps they will talk to you when they think about selling. Plus you can refer the the people who own the red house over there (imagine standing on someone's front steps pointing) and how you have helped them (they don;t need to know you don;t make any money on it) and so you can help them.
Create a position as "intelligent investor" for the particular neighborhood and let people know you are the guy to talk to - behind on the payments, trouble finding a good tenant, don't want the hassles anymore, etc - knock on doors and let people know you can help.
With the right approach you'll be passing on more deals that you see right now.
good luck!
thanks for the advice
Don't get discouraged. There are enough deals out there for everyone. maybe try checking out the foreclosure forum and looking into ways to find troubled properties. Good luck
Work the numbers, it's all a numbers game, call people, send postcards, talk to FSBO's, etc.
[addsig]
One thing you got to understand about making deals, just like playing cards, they come in streaks. Be patient, keep working, you will get hot and everything that you touch will turn to gold. Then the cycle will start over and you will get cold again. The point is that if you grind it out over the long haul REI will work magic for you.
Good luck!