Noobie Competition - Finding Deals

[Alexander Hish]

Not sure why or if it is only in my area but I have seen a huge surge of noobie house flippers creating a lot of competition in the last couple months. I've been seeing we buy houses signs poorly written on cardboard and even gotten a letter in the mail about a local speaking event on flipping. The biggest problem I've had is these new investors are paying WAY too much for properties. 

How have you changed your strategies for finding deals? These inexperienced investors are paying almost asking and, probably, coming in at no or negative profits.