where do I find the deals?

[N.A N.A]

I owned a few properties a few years ago in Ohio. I found them basically by luck, right place right time, and did rather well with them but they've long been sold. Probably should have kept the one I sold most recently, but I digress.

I've tried looking the old fashioned way here in Maryland and am not having much luck. I'm a mortgage loan officer so I know financing like the back of my hand, and I do have investor clients I do financing for, but haven't had much luck getting any REAL advice on where to find real estate that's investment worthy from those clients, mainly because if they knew of them, THEY are the ones buying them. :lol: Realtors I know think that a $300,000 house for $290,000 is a "deal" which, as we know, it is NOT from an investor's point of view.

I also don't want to do "ghetto" properties in Baltimore, as I am not too confident of what the market will do in those areas, even aside from the current downturn. My wife and I would like to buy something that's investment-worthy but also something we could live in to start with since we don't even own a primary residence, and my wife said until we have a place of our own to live in, no dice on investing. :roll: However, we both agree that something with a little rehab needs are fine as long as it's liveable and insurable in it's current condition. We've tried looking at REO foreclosures, and it seems that either they need so much work you can't finance them, and if you can, you end up putting so much money in them to fix them that you've paid full price, and end up with a property that you can't rent out later and have a positive cash flow on, and also can't sell for any real profit. Or - they have it basically priced at market.

Where do I need to look to find actual deals in central Maryland, Howard, Carroll, and Anne Arundel counties preferably.