Finding Deals in a Tight Market

[David Moore]

Hello Bigger Pocket community, and thank you for the years of education and motivation in my personal real estate journey! I am a long time member of Bigger Pockets but first time posting. I have been active in residential real estate in northeast Ohio since 2007 and currently have a portfolio of 16 units comprised of 8 SFR and 4 duplexes which has been built through house hacking, BRRR method, seller financing, and utilizing of a self directed Roth IRA. Over this same period of time, I have worked full time in commercial real estate in positions as an analyst, acquisitions associate and commercial mortgage broker. I enjoy the commercial side but have always been more excited about growing my own portfolio.

Which brings me to my current question: Is now a good time to take the plunge to full time real estate investing? I intend to use a split strategy which includes a flip or two per year to generate income (don't need much) along with a partnership with a loan sponsor in order to implement BRRR method. I enjoy working on renovations and plan to be active in the process.

I have all the pieces in place to begin operating on a full time basis, my biggest concern? Finding DEALS. I have acquired properties in the past through a number of different methods, word of mouth, referral, Craigslist and of course, the MLS. While I have found a handful of unmarketed deals in the past, my biggest source has always been the MLS. I would like to operate in the nicer suburbs of Cleveland/Akron markets with ARV in the $150-$200k range but the REO inventory has all but dried up to what looks like a profitable project.

I understand and anticipate the need to begin a direct marketing campaign but just curious to others thoughts on the ability to keep the machine fed through MLS and wholesale opportunities while I ramp up my own efforts. Are profitable deals still available with shrinking inventory of distressed assets and growing competition? Or has the smart money moved on to other opportunities as the profits are squeezed out?