State of the Auction/Short Sale market

[Brandon Lee]

A little background:

I do business in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.

Primary strategy is flipping/wholesaling.

One of our strongest acquisition strategies is doorknocking NTS's (notice of trustee sale), and 90% of the leads are underwater (we've yet to actually convert a lead with equity since we started this strategy about 6 months ago).

We are aware the the margins at the courthouse steps are very thin now, and we have also noticed the bank budging FAR less when it comes to negotiating the short sale.

I know it was just a bit over a year ago when you could still pick up short sales that had solid margins (60-80 cents), but it hasn't been the case as of late (from my experience).

I guess my question is, to investors in other states or markets, is this also true for you? Which markets across the nation have not recovered yet? Looking to diversify into Washington or Florida, but I wanted to hear other folk's experiences as of the past year.

Thanks!