That being said, there is a lot of competition at the auctions these days and the chance of an "amazing deal" not being recognized and bid on (and probably bid way up) is slim to none in my experience.If you're interested in auctions though, there's nothing wrong with going to watch and see how it works so you'll be more prepared when you have the money to be an actual bidder. 

I am having a little bit of trouble shifting gears but I am working on is slowly.I am in Rhode island, I have been looking for deals on the MLS ( slim pickings as it seems ALOT of people in RI are looking for deals there) So I started a secondary search for wholesalers but The three I have found ( Craigslist) seem to be evaluating house differently then me because  when I run the 75% test its off.. ( different comps?

The investors have been very difficult to work with from the very beginning with grinding us down on our prices to a very very slim profit margin (almost making the job not worth taking but we got so far in deep we accepted any way).We originally asked for a 50% deposit prior to work starting as we have never worked with this particular investor and then we would collect the remaining balance once work has been completed.They had two other bids but decided to go with us because of the quality of our work as showcased in the portfolio we presented to them.Well, they managed to get us down to 25% of deposit (initially they asked for 10%).

If you are in for 170+50=220 and you sell for 250-5%=237, then you take closing costs and carrying costs into account your window is slim.

This is way to slim of a margin to take this risk on, I personally don't see much opportunity for profit on this one

It is more logical to assume like minded investors will price the loan the same therefore the margin is slim to nonexistent.  

Brooklyn and Queens the pickings are very slim to none.

There may be some nicer 4plex neighborhoods out there, but it might be a slim shot.

Foreclosure is a nice option but then the lender is tipped off and if they foreclose quickly your chance of recovering rent through receivership is slim.

We eventually sold after a year at a very slim profit, AFTER putting in 40k of improvements (new h2o heater, AC units, roof, etc).