Don,I think its very market and niche specific and one does kind of need to explore deals they may not have done in the past if we are going to maintain velocity.

I am not in California but just came back from a conference and a few of my friends work those areas.I do believe the broker/agent is giving sound advice.From what I have been told in California it varies by area but there are many more short sales than REO.The foreclosure process there takes a very,very long time and can be expensive for the banks.Some areas in California are receiving multiple offers over asking.The reason is California generally isn't a cash flow market so people wrong or right buy on speculation.It's one of those markets that cycles up hard and crashes down hard so timing is more critical than other markets with more subtle swings in value.With the short sales you will have to watch out for time lines for approval of the sales price.If it has been a while and the prices have fallen even more you will have appraisal issues.This is why you need to know absorption rates for the specific area you are buying in and buy what percent the market is increasing,decreasing each month or is it staying flat.Velocity is also a factor.If for instance December values declined 3.0,then January 3.2,then February 3.6 percent then the velocity downwards is increasing.Also values might decrease but interest rates rise causing you to buy less of a house.So really get educated and drill down the numbers to make an informed decision.Also make sure to compare with market declines apples to apples.So if you want a 3/2 ranch on a 1/2 acre make sure you are looking at that data and not a mixture of sales with wide adjustments to bring in line.no legal adviceForeclosure auctions are generally cash only at the courthouse.Property that has already been foreclosed on that the bank is sticking in a auction is a different animal.

But if the land investor is worth their salt, there should be enough meat on the bone for you to justify that cost, as we try to sell at 70-80% of market value to keep the velocity of money up.  

You can tell this adds to the velocity of your investing.

While I don't have the velocity this guy has, it doesn't mean I, or anyone else for that matter, can't find people like him and partner up on a deal or two or keep working towards those bigger and better deals on their own."

SpringEQ  721 MORTGAGE FICO (not consumer one) 70% ltv; Symmetry same; Fremont case by case they are picky by COUNTY location; Velocity pricy; PENFED no LLC and don't change it back they will rip the rug from under you; Merchants Bank Indiana only in Midwest; Farmers and Merchants if you have big deposits to give them; many others depends on the location of subject.  

Plus...escape velocity...Episode 113 – Jay Papasan - Very practical slow and steady adviceEpisode 221 - Tim Shiner - his concept of equity build up and "shearing the sheep" shows some of the flexibility of real estate vs a 401k Last but not least, I also recommend all the tax advice given by my fellow CPAs on the BP Podcast.

We as individual paper investors can't compete with the high velocity trading computers exploiting arbitrages out there.   

I can see the brain drain for that. but not to buy notes or lend money.. just can't get enough velocity. 

The save and use compound interest model could take a life time and you may only reach a fraction of the 100M net worth figure or you need luck like others have mentioned.The quickest way is to do what the rich do and that is to do what JJ Marco focuses on in his book the Millionaire fastlane by either focusing on the 1) Magnitude or the 2) speed/velocity.Increasing Magnitude would be like increasing the ticket item size so if you're a real estate agent instead of selling 250k homes you sell luxury items that you receive your 2.5% commission off of 10,000,000 instead.Increasing Speed/velocity would be how many times you can transact and earn that commission above, profit above in whatever business model it is  whether you're a RE agent, you're selling burgers, or widgets.