@Don Konipol  not to mention the BP effect... creating huge amount of competition in certain markets.The west coast has and is extremely competitive..

I've made offers on a few properties but our market is pretty competitive at the moment and I don't want to bite off too much with my first one. 

@Ross Denman  Hello Tiffany I also work at Philly , just bought a house at the tax sale auction on JUNE , it is a good competitive market , but there is much potential there , let me know if you need help , or we can network for future work there GOOD luck 

Hey all,I'm currently looking to buy an owner occupied duplex as my first property. However, I'm finding that most places in my area (Eugene, OR) don't even hit the 1% rule (did this used to be 2%?) and do not cash fl...

It's very scarce out there and around Boston it's extremely competitive and also expensive.

because 90% of the people would have walked and you're not that is why you have a potential to make that kind of spread...I've constantly out hustled ALL my competition because I'm willing to do more than anyone else...

You will have to forge a good relationship with the REO listing agents for this, and for many listings they will have a small window of time where the listing is not on MLS and the listing is exclusive to the listing agent and the agent's "team"; that time window is used to identify their own buyers without competition, so that they collect both sides of commission.

My renters pay the utilities and they choose where to get their electricity from.That is the only utility choice that I am aware of other than water wells and septic systems.Lessons from Texas...When our state first went to deregulation it was supposed to provide price competition that would lead to lower prices.

Remember, some who is willing to teach you is offering their time, energy and even some risk (you may become their competition one day).

Now you know my competitive nature......