There Are Enough Deals For Everyone

Getting Started
When I first started buying foreclosures in 2012 (in King County and Snohomish County, WA), I attending investor meetings every Thursday night to review properties and prepare bids for the Friday morning auction. Seeing the swarms of investors, who seemed to be experienced, it was hard to imagine that any deal could slip through the cracks to me (beginner investor). Wouldn't the good deals be picked up by the cash-buyers, experienced flippers, hedge funds, competing bidders, etc?  Basically my concern was: "Someone with more resources than me will get all the deals!"

Too Good To Be True?
This is similar to thinking expressed by some would-be investors regarding MLS-listed properties: "If a deal is really good, the real estate agent will buy it themselves without offering it to an investor."  Or, for a property that has been sitting a while on the market: "There must be something fundamentally wrong with that property, otherwise someone would have bought it already."  Or, upon successfully buying a property: "I must have paid too much; there must be something wrong or someone else would have bought it first."

An Approach to Auction Bids
My initial approach to the auction was to bid on multiple properties each Friday, 5-10 on average.  That way, if other investors bid up a particular property out of my range, perhaps some other property would have less action and I could get it. The approach I found most effective was to be a little bit aggressive on the properties I really liked (perhaps using more "optimistic" numbers for expected Rents and ARV) and being more conservative with my bids on the properties were less attractive.  That way I'd "go get it" on the most desirable properties (perhaps one that is only a few blocks from my house, thus adding major convenience), and if I got one of the less attractive ones with my conservative bid, I'd feel I was getting a great purchase price. Oftentimes I left the auction with no property, after spending the entire evening Thursday researching properties and placing bids.  But sometimes, on Friday, I'd snag one or two properties and be surprised that they actual fell to me!  My best advice would be: Come up with the highest price you'd be happy to get the property, and once the bid goes above that, stop.  A couple times I broke that rule for a rare multifamily that seemed like a once-per-year opportunity. If I knew the other investor was about to fold, I'd give it one more shot to raise my bid by $1k or so.  But most times I'd be strict with my bid prices, that way I wouldn't get caught up in the emotion of the bidding process.

Following Your Criteria
Set up some criteria for what you want to achieve in your purchases, whether it be a certain ROI or a certain amount of Cashflow.  My brother @Nicholas Jones setup some detailed spreadsheets in which he'd punch in numbers for bid price, fair market value, potential rents, renovation costs, past-due utilities, hard money interest, etc, and it would produce a "go or no-go" decision on the property.  Once you have your criteria, you can feel happy when you get the property (it meets your criteria, so no buyer's remorse!).  And if you don't get the property, you can feel fine that someone else grabbed it at a price that you would have regretted, so you're happy to let it go.

There Are Plenty of Deals
After gaining some experience buying properties, it becomes plain to see that there are plenty of deals for everyone.  Drive in any direction in your city and you will see real estate in every direction!  All of those properties are owned by someone and will eventually change hands.  Even a savvy investor with lots of cash and a great construction team has a limited amount of deals that he/she can be into at a given time.  Sometimes you can grab a great deal because all of the other auction buyers picked up great deals the previous two weeks and they are fully occupied with those.  Sometimes an investor who has been buying many investment properties in your area moves on to other things and all the sudden becomes a seller of many properties in your area.  By keeping a pulse on the market (attending auctions, investor meetings, being observant while driving around, checking craigslist, and the MLS) you will see excellent deals pass directly in front of your eyes.  You may think "there must be something wrong if it's still there for me" but it could be equally true "there's something *right* about this property for me!"

Conclusion
If you are a new investor, don't bother harboring limiting beliefs about what deals you'll be capable of finding and getting.  Just start looking and keep your antenna up.  Deals can come straight through a common channel, or through a circuitous and unexpected one. With a positive, receptive attitude, and willingness to take steady action which correspond to your goals, you will find circumstances conspiring in your favor!