Hey Lindsey,
I grew up in Vacaville and run a team of real estate agents here that works with a lot of investors. It's a crazy seller's market right now and the Vallejo/Fairfield metro area (right in between SF and Sacramento) is the #2 spot in sales activity per capita in the nation currently. http://www.timesheraldonline.com/article/NH/20160408/NEWS/160409859
Most neighborhoods have less 1 month of inventory, but that also brings with it a lot of opportunity. Yes, prices are higher than other parts of the country, but that doesn't really matter if you're using hard money and looking for a certain spread on each deal.
Our investor clients focus on Vallejo/Fairfield/Vacaville for flip properties. Since there are so few at auction now, I usually run reports once a week for them on available homes with higher days on market and with keywords like "TLC" or "As-Is" to identify the best opportunities.
There are also a lot of properties that are overpriced and end up expiring as well, and I'm usually able to present properties like that to an investor and sell it off market since the sellers are tired of people traipsing through their homes. These ones end up sitting for so long that people think there is something wrong and the only option for the seller is a low ball offer.
Short sales are another great option for investors since most buyers don't want to wait for them to get approval, or will just purchase a new construction home instead.
