REO Inventory and Offers

[Stephen Sokolow]

Hello all,

I am in the South Bend market and have recently been focused in on REO's. I am using the MLS to located deals within a predefined zipcode (46614). My experience so far is that there is not a ton of inventory (9 currently listed) and when I submit offers either the banks are not answering or they are only coming off their asking price by a max of $2000. Is that normal? I am using a fix and flip model. Most of the homes are in rough shape and it seems the banks are not taking that into consideration in their asking price. I am using the flip calculator and sold comps form the mls to come up with my offers. So far I have not had any offers accepted.

My questions are this. 1. Should I start looking into other markets? 2. Are other investors finding this pattern in their local markets? 3. Is it still profitable to pursue REO's or should I start to look into other strategies for acquisition? As always feedback is much appreciated and I thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and answer my questions. Happy Thanksgiving!