Occasionally, a company may have a negative beta (e.g. a gold mining company), which means the share price moves in the opposite direction to the broader market."

If you can be a reliable go-to type contractor who need minimal babysitting and occasionally anticipates the investor's needs ("hey the subfloor is all rotted out in the bathroom, do you want me to refloor over it or I can replace it real quick") or goes above the call ("I'll stick around a 1/2 hour to let the cabinet delivery guys in so you don't have to drive cross town in rush hour just to unlock the door"), you don't need to be rock bottom on price.

@Jacob KravitzI occasionally have notes that we get re-performing again that sometimes sell. 

You're welcome to hang out at our Property Management company occasionally, or ride around to showings, and check out rehabs. 

Hello everyone here a BP,My name is J I'm a first time buyer looking at getting into buy and hold real estate and maybe there occasional flip thrown in for fun.

My goal is to target single family rental property through auctions with the occasional quick sale/flip.

@Karen Lynn - I am going to echo what @Lane K. said and add that while you may be able to find the occasional cash-flow property, it is not possible to consistently add to your portfolio here.

occasionally the greater fool theory would take hold and someone would buy it at tax sale and an overage was created..

You might also think about looking south and east of LA (Hawthorne, South LA, Cypress, Pomona), and keep your eyes peeled for the occasional deal that pops up in LA.

I absolutely love to read and I am on my 15th book since December pertaining to Real estate investing and business (along with an occasional classic novel, Lol).