Part of phenomenon you describe can be attributable to owners expecting prices to rise due to the speculation over the bitumen pipeline coming to the City and the corresponding refinery and port expansion.

I would not invest locally because NorCal and SoCal markets are speculative and do not generate positive cash flow.Good Luck!

As a wholesaler, you would never get an inspection with my REI, as that is provided only to offers submitted with POF and Load PreApproval letters PRECISELY to avoid every Tom, Dick and Harry from disturbing the tenants and wasting my time as well.Real data and inspections belong to real players, not speculators IMO.That's part of the game when you choose wholesaling.

You don't have to speculate about the ghost bidding.

Appreciation potential is speculative at best.

We can all sit and speculate on how it should be done etc but that isn't fixing the major issues at hand, you need cash.

I can speculate on what they mean by you being in control of the property but that does you no good.

Generally speaking, hard money lenders fill a void when it comes to speculative real estate loans.  

I have become better at speculating the longer I'm in the business, but it's still a roller coaster. 

People can speculate and give their opinions all day long.But unless you are here and physically see these neighborhoods, no one can really give any advice on whether to invest or not.