I know some places stayed nuts, but I suspect you'll find the value went down at least a little over that period. 

The mortgage guys really hurting are the ones that built their practice on the low hanging fruit house of cards of artificially low rates, which is rate and term refinance business from a call center cubicle thingie.

It would be easy to do a "mini" cost seg though and take the low hanging fruit. 

OK BP is driving me nuts.

On our rehabs the most time intensive stuff is the rehab (we are licensed contractors and do everything in house), if you already have a contracting company that will do it soup to nuts, then why not?

It's probably going to drive my GC's guys nuts.

Welcome, @Alexander Jones.Yes, SoCal can be a tough nut to crack for newbies.A couple years ago I mailed out lots of letters to homeowners in LA County with no luck.Then I tried rural Kern County and got a deal from a distressed homeowner in California City.The margins were not as large as they would've been in LA or OC, but I was able to rent it out for 2 years before fixing it up and selling it for a decent gain.Also, have you considered an owner-occupied small multifamily for your first deal?

in some areas  yes the low hanging fruit has been picked.but there is always deals to be had for those with cash..

Welcome, @Michael GlotfeltySoCal can be a tough nut to crack for newbies.A couple years ago I mailed out lots of letters to homeowners in LA County with no luck.Then I tried rural Kern County and got a deal from a distressed homeowner in California City.The margins were not as large as they would've been in LA or OC, but I was able to rent it out for 2 years before fixing it up and selling it for a decent gain.Also, have you considered an owner-occupied small multifamily for your first deal?

not sure if they're open to a jv.. but just dealing with them on negotiating sales prices makes me cringe already. working wth them on a jv would drive me nuts. thanks for the advice.