Probably the most obvious answer to the Vegas/Phoenix question is that you might be able to find deals, but you'll certainly have lots of competition.

There is plenty of competition there, many many wholesalers and rehabbers.

If one can get through all of the broker nonsense and get direct to the principal buyers, there is low competition, high discounts, and consistent product coming through the doors.

Is the competition for foreclosures and auctions pretty high here in Boston?

Competition is also abundant.

I wrote that book, so I just want to clarify something:All the metrics you read about and I discussed in the book (inventory, price trends, saturation, buyer pool, investor competition, etc) are to help you determine WHERE to buy, not WHEN to buy.Once you determine WHERE to buy, that is WHEN you should be buying.

They showed me their pay structure for repairs and it's very competitive.

Banks seem to be more competitive when they know you actively do business with more than 1 bank at a time.

hotel competition?

Currently the city of Seattle has very low housing inventory and the single family home buyer market is competitive.