I decided to look at distressed properties with high DOM because that's what other investors do. 

There's a variety of ways to get a deal in front of you (I'm mostly a flipper), but basically if it looks promising, I run custom comps queries and check the current & past $/sf of renovated/distressed product in that city or zipcode.Here's a chart on 90066 I generated from my tool under Market Stats > Sales Data > Specific Zip Code:- My above chart (more available) shows the Avg Renovated $/sf (High) over time in this Zip Code, something completely different than charts/providers based on Averages/Medians only, like every other platform (RedFin Below, https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/):- Can't select smaller locations such as City or Zipcode for their $/sf data, so it's useless helping me underwrite/verify a deal.- Can set Zip Code for Median Sale Price data, but again it's the median/avg so it's useless helping me underwrite/verify a deal.Then if that looks decent, I'll run Sales Comps, and get a quick summary of some key metrics based on those comps.

@Mike M.Im an active investor in indy with 8 units and ive seen a couple instances where the properties that were sold arent in bad locations (gentrifying) so there are wholesalers who prey on morris invest homes and buy them cash for pennies on the dollar to flip them.The issue for these poor owners is that they dont know the true value of their homes in most cases and also that they have spent their life savings, sometimes using credit cards as mentioned above and are in major financial distress... really really sad to see across the board.Sorry to hear your story @Charles M.

You just didn't get caught.And god help you if you do it to a borrower in financial distress or if you do it in a state that prohibits equity skimming, requires licensure or registration, or other nefarious acts against homeowners.1st - it is not equity skimming. 

Is it true that we can't get FHA and conventional loans on distressed properties?

I would like to try to obtain a distressed property that has just been condemned.

I was driving for dollars and I passed a distressed property.

1. you're right in the new ones from developers don't produce any cashflow. you might want to look at the secondary market to get better yields as the properties are already built and can cashflow right away. also easier to see comparable rents in the same development. check bank repos, distressed sellers and the like. you might also want to get a parking slot for added income as they can be leased out separately. it's also quite difficult to sell without one should you decide down the road. developers usually have an in-house leasing team to handle property management which we use for some of our properties.  

I took on 4 buildings - 2 of which were highly distressed.

I've actually watched Sellers price their highly distressed properties at 50% of market value and buyers come in with offers that are 1/2 of that already low deal.