How Best to Use the MLS - Differently?

[Josiah Stacy]

In a recent BiggerPockets webinar, @Brandon Turner mentioned using the MLS, differently as a source for finding great deals. He provided a couple of ideas for MLS searches to use to find the hidden listed treasures, such as searching for a 2 bedroom house larger than 1000 square feet.

I thought this was an awesome idea, as automated alerts can provide a deal to look at while I'm waiting in line at the store or, ahem, dropping the kids off at the pool, as opposed to mindlessly scrolling through Facebook or Pintrest looking at that neat shelf I'll never build or my friends' latest rants about their opinions. I'm also in a unique position to take advantage of this method of finding deals, as my preferred real estate agent happens to be my mother. I can simply pay her a visit, sit down with her at the computer, and ask her to send me very specific automated emails, and while I'm there we can even thumb through a number of listings. 

I would love to hear some input from the community about other searches that you find fruitful in this high speed market. Even if your suggestions boil down to the same, "be first or last" approach, or something else we've all heard over and over, I'd love to hear what specific searches you've plugged in and followed up on that have yielded insane deals from the MLS.

SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!