I agree and think its unsustainable, here is a thread I created today to talk about the surplus REO rentals https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/16/topics/109878

The surplus money goes into the Clerk's account.  

In MD it is basically illegal to do this for mortgage foreclosure surplus funds. 

You don't have wholesalers grabbing 1.5 mil dollar fixers in Barron Park and assigning the contracts for 5k ....The only reason I say Barron Park is because I lived there for 8 years :)There is such a surplus of old fixers throughout the mid west and east coast that I look at this lower end RE business more like the used car bizz...

@Karen Margrave We do have plenty of discount building supply stores here (Seconds and Surplus is right by my house), and BuildDirect.com ships to a warehouse here, too, so I should be able to get pretty competitive pricing on materials.

Hi John,Ohio is a great market to be on.I see lots of potential in Ohio state moving forward especially when more manufacturing jobs come and other investors wake up and smell the roses lolWe have been quite active in Toledo and bought 12 and looking for more.We specialize in turnkeys and are looking to build up enough surplus to hold more than we sell.Thanks for reading and have a great day.

I found Surplus Warehouse: 2706 Mackey Lane.

Cheap paint applied badly tells the prospect that you are cutting corners and there are likely to be other hidden surprises.If you do a lot of projects stick to standard colors so you can use surplus materials on the next job or go back and touch up later when needed.John Corey

If the windows are inefficient, I go to the local surplus store and buy new (surplus) windows dirt cheap.

A bank is in the business of lending money and collecting savings from people with surplus cash.They are not in the business of brokering real estate.