Agree though, compnaies getting things off their books is more concerning than price (in a way)  nice deal and like you said, it was because of your ability to act quickly.  

If you mean just go to redfin/zillow and find a killer deal there, or a website listing REOs, to "get rich quick with no money down," ya, that's mostly dead (to the extent that it was ever alive at all). 

Other than that, i see that basically every vendor working for insurance comes in through water mitigation or other quick response restoration work.

And while I would never encourage anyone to overlook Birmingham, I have heard good things about Atlanta lately.

I would encourage you to come to the local REIA meeting.

Hey guys, quick question!

We went to our local REIA meeting last week and met some good contacts pretty quickly.

I agree with Brian although many portfolio lenders would lend quickly if you have 20-25% to put down. 

Are there hard money lenders that lend with longer terms or is there a way to quickly pay off that investor via refi or something else?

I did a quick search, and I will try to explain it a different way.The sign in the picture appears to be an on-premise for sale sign rather than an off-premise directional sign (pointer sign).