Buying in a super hot market

[Jake Yates]

With house prices being exuberantly high right now and seemingly on the market for a max of 2 seconds, what are recommendations for finding great deals in this market right now—especially for new investors?

Currently am looking on zillow and realtor.com, all potential deals already seem to have offers way above asking price ):

Thoughts?  Thanks!

[Dustin Allen]

@Jake Yates

If you are waiting until the houses hit Zillow, you are seeing them as the rest of the world sees them.

Speak to an agent and give them really clear criteria of what you are looking for. MLS notifications generally hit before the commercial sites get the information, sometimes by as much as a day. Be ready to move on a good deal immediately. If you need 3 days to run your numbers and another 3 days to get around to seeing the property, a good deal will be long gone by then. Have your financing sorted. Get prequalified if you'll be using financing. Have proof of funds ready and make sure your lender will provide the Prequalification letter for any offers you write.

It's possible to get a deal off the MLS these days but you have to be lightning fast.