Dani,How do you calculate the Vacancy rate for a region? 

Now I have been apart of nearly two dozen flips and have viewed well over a hundred homes in the Midwest region I am in but I have never seen 2x4 floor joists(except in a non inspected addition).

Foremost Insurance is fairly predominant in the Midwest region.

@Troy Fisher, @Kevin Carbon, and @Tiffany Plovie collectively run the three biggest gatherings in the Puget Sound region.

I only purchase properties in the Charlotte/ Concord/Kannapolis area so it may also be just a regional thing and other areas may be inundated with great properties and I may need to expand my area.

Hello everyone. My name is Justin and I am glad to become a new member of BiggerPockets. I am looking foward to a prosperous future. 

regional accounting firm.

My point was to not simply write off the entire region because nothing is available for under $100k. 

@Copeland DuhonThere are a lot of posts on this subject, but I'll take a crack at a high level:Macro environment: rule of law, diversity of regional economy, positioning of regional economy, etcSupply and demand equation for properties, both on the sale transaction side, and on the rent side. 

You'll have better luck with local/regional banks and credit unions.