In a hot Jupiter/Palm Beach Gardens market, deals don't sit on the MLS long at all.  

One step up from the cheapest carpet at Home Depot is great, it's cheap - can usually get a promotion on install as well.  

Of course there are the big box stores, Lowes and Home Depot, but what else is out there?

We've bought from wholesale stores, to Amazon, to Home Depot, to random liquidator stores.

(Or maybe you don't want to get sued when kids fall out of the tree...)It might be worth taking the photos you posted to a local garden center... not the one that pops up on the side of Wal-Mart or Home Depot in the summer, but a locally-owned place that has plants, seed, etc year round.  

Phil F.to answer your question the areas I am accustomed to purchasing in are either working class or urban neighborhoods such as Fountain Square, Bates Hendricks, Drexel Garden, Emerson Heights, Little Flower, Old Southside, Irvington.

Another idea I've heard to gain a bit more knowledge is the 1-2-3 books from Home Depot.

Are there better ways, other than standing outside Home Depot at 6am, to find a good GC?

A 1900 sq. ft house in Central City close to the Garden District worth between $90-$150K that appears to be occupied and looks in very good condition.

I guess I could buy a storage shed from Home Depot and throw it up somewhere and call it a "tiny house!"