Good? areas

[Oye Alle]

Hi I am about an hour south of Washington DC in Virginia, I have been trying to get deals on the MLS primarily (I'm an agent) in my local area, I am primarily looking in my immediate area and up to 10 miles south. As immediately North it is uber competitive. I am not having much luck, it appears it's competitive here too. I've also started looking at hubzu, homepath, hudhomestore, (all of which show lower prices than the exact same listing on the MLS by the way). My question is what numbers do I need to be looking at to determine what is a good area, if my area is no good (not enough deals/overly competitive) then perhaps I need to drive, which I have no problem doing. For instance it would appear based on very preliminary figures that Prince Georges county in Maryland might be a better area, the margins are smaller, but it appears there are distressed properties everywhere. Its an 1 - 1 1/2 away but apparently a lot of the rock stars feel comfortable enough to invest out of state. What/how do I need to define the area where I will be farming for deals? How big does it have to be? What are the telling numbers that would make you say, "ah this is a good area."