Both numbers you saw are describing different things. You can start with a phone and a spreadsheet, and the reason people spend money is speed and volume, which is what this model actually sells.
The genuinely required spend is small. You need a way to reach buyers repeatedly, so a CRM, which just means customer relationship management software, a database of your buyers and what they buy. Free tiers and simple spreadsheets work for the first fifty buyers. You need email and texting that won't get you blocked, and bulk texting platforms commonly run in the tens of dollars a month at low volume. Many operators pay for a property data service to pull comparable sales and ownership records, and those tend to sit somewhere in the $50 to $150 a month range depending on how much data you pull. A dedicated phone number is a few dollars. So a lean stack lands closer to a couple of hundred dollars a month than two thousand up front.
The cost people miss is the one that isn't software. A dispo specialist earns from a vetted buyer list, and vetting means you've confirmed a buyer actually closes, in what areas, at what price band, with what proof of funds. Building that takes months of calls and showing up at auctions and title company conversations, and there's no product that shortcuts it.
One thing to settle before you take your first deal from someone else. How you're paid, and how you advertise a property you don't own, can trigger real estate licensing rules, and that varies by state, with several states having tightened up on it. Ask a real estate attorney licensed where you work before you write your first ad.
