Advice for Working with Agents in a Crazy Market?

[Brandon Foken]

I've been reading J Scott's books and the BP forums and almost everyone recommends finding a real estate agent early in your investing career that can help you out by pulling comps, finding listings, etc. My question is: is it worth doing this in a crazy market like the San Francisco Bay Area? By crazy I mean extremely low inventory, houses going 10 - 25% over list, lots of cash buyers, etc.

Real Quick - a little about my strategy. I'm currently doing direct mail campaigns trying to find motivated sellers directly. I've sent out over 2,500 letters without a deal yet, but I'm confident in my system. My primary exit strategy is either to wholesale (if its a major rehab or outside my desired farm area) or flix and flip (I have friends and family that would be potential investors based upon the deal). Furthermore, I'm currently enrolled in a community college to get the education requirements done for my RE license. I anticipate taking the test in the July/August time-frame.

I've been doing these mailings since mid-January and I'm trying to find ways to shorten the time to my first deal. The first thought was to work with an agent to find available properties, but then I got to thinking about how crazy the listing are out here. So now I come to BP Nation with open arms asking for advice. What would you do in my situation?

A) Continue trying to find "off-market" opportunities
B) Call and interview agents that can help me find a house on the MLS.