Is it really "that" hard to find deals?

[Michael Davido]

I'm new to BP and learning about real estate investing.  I've been trying to read and watch BP videos when I have the opportunity.  I've been casually lurking these forums too.  At this point, I haven't totally committed to investing, but sort of investigating it.

The one thing I've heard many times is that 98-99% of the properties you look at are not going to be investment worthy. Most properties on the online MLS sites have probably already been picked through.

They also say that every property has its number.  That completely makes sense.  If there is a property sitting out there at $250,000, then my number might be $190,000.  The thing is, is the seller really going to knock off $60,000 just so you can buy the property as an investment?  Those sellers are going to want to extract as much money out of the property as they can. 

But...is it really that hard to find investment deals?  I see so many people on BP talking about having 4 or 5 or 100 units.  The back of my mind says, "they are out there," and of course, we (read:  you all) are looking and trying to find them.

In one video, (I don't remember exact numbers) they look at a property that is selling for $125,000.  After analyzing the numbers, he mentions that he might just put in an offer for $70,000 because he has nothing to lose.  Maybe they will bite on it - you never know unless you try.  Looking through the different sites to find the address, that property actually ended up selling for $174,000.  

Now, I live in a high cost of living area where property values are really high.  My brain tells me that it's probably going to be hard to find any deals around where I live and so I'd have to start moving outside of my area to open up the potential opportunities.  I know of some RE agents who are selling properties within 24 hours on the market.

But, the question is, "is it really 'that' hard to find deals?"  I'm trying to grasp the extent of the problem before I make the decision.  For some, it seems like deals are plentiful, while for others, it seems like there are no deals at all.