Where are the good ones

[Robert Campbell]

All:

I have been combing through Zillow and Auction.com for several months for my area (Southern Illinois / Belleville) and I am having a hard time finding properties that have good Value in them.  By Value, I mean that Projected Sales Price - Cost of rehab - purchase price leaves a reasonable amount of profit to make it worth it.

On Auction.com, I participate in Auctions every week where I have physically gone to properties, tracked down previous owners, done all kinds of analysis to get an understanding what the rehab cost may look like.  What I find is that the banks just want too much money for houses that need too much rehab.

Is there some way other investors are getting access to properties that aren't on the MLS, or these common sites I mentioned? Keep in mind Im new at this, about 2 years, but I have made money with two flips and two rentals so far...

It does seem to me like in the fall of last year, there were more properties out there with Value in them - maybe its a time of year issue.  Final Note, my area is about 20 minutes from downtown St Louis across the river here in Illinois, investors from STL are picking off properties over here adding further scarcity.

Just hoping to spark a discussion that might help me and others - where do you find your good buys?

Thanks!

Rob