Any guesses on how a smaller player might be able to participate this time around (as the opportunity presents itself)...besides investing in a fund?

Consider me a new baseball player!

Send me a message and I will give you the name of a player in your area

Foreclosure costs have been greatly reduced due to heavy competition (more players than ever before) and also due to automation.

@Ed EmmonsInteresting note - UMH, 3rd largest publicly traded REIT, has been working with lenders to get a credit facility to buy rental MHs for their community at apartment rate financing - that's potentially a sub 4% interest rate as opposed to I believe 6-7% that they're currently paying.So... some of the bigger players in the industry are trying to make the case that rental MHs should be treated as apartments - and it seems like your experience lend credence to their case.

This friend of mine is a HUGE player in the California real estate market.

The sellers are big players and wanting to unload small properties that are in need of a lot of work.

If MERS is so useful and such a widespread practice in the mortgage industry, why are there so many publications demonizing MERS and casting the entity as a key player in the 2007-2009 financial crises?

@Iris HernandezThere are a handful of regional players, but the two national banks that really out-compete on most projects are First Western Federal Savings and North American Savings Bank.The ability to apply the principals of leverage in your retirement plan, if used wisely and conservatively, can be a really great strategy. 

You should find out who the players are in office leasing in your area (specifically the type you have i.e. small boutique, medical arts, large single tenant, ect) and set up meetings with them.