I think now the DC market is much more inflated price-wise.

I know some auction platforms only allow the banks to participate (auction.com) and I think it sometimes artificially inflates the price because Joe Homeowner cannot sell his home on the most popular online auction platform but his bank can if he decides to walk away from his mortgage.  

His timing to walk away leaves me holding the bag on a half finished bathroom project, and a few odds and ends to finish.

Here is a list of the things we think need to be done, and in the order we are thinking:New wood flooring in most of the house (leaving carpet in all bedrooms except master)Update master bathPaint most roomsUpdate guest bathChange glass panes on either side of front doorRemove florescent lighting in kitchenAdd patio w/ cover in backChange out brass fixturesAdd shelving and mudroom type bench to laundry roomAdd outdoor kitchen to complete back patioChange out white oven and microwave for stainless (the rest of the kitchen has been updated w/ stainless and new counter-tops) Other odds and endsAs you may have figured out already, we clearly would like to do more to the house than what our budget will allow if we were to treat this as a flip. 

Of course there's been the odd banking short term/high interest investment and so on, but we are getting a late start in life at real estate so our capital situation isn't going to parallel yours.Good for you and make those dreams come true!

I am originally from chicago and every house I lived in had gutters...I found that odd, my agent said he hates gutters.

I am an absolute noob to the ins-and-outs of real estate investing; and look forward to learning a ton from everyone on BP.If you were to ask me what the first question I would ask to a seasoned real estate investor in the Seattle area is, I would ask 'given the current inflated pricing in the Seattle market, would you say it is still a good time to acquire properties?

Surely inflation would be more than that.

As I understand it, diversification works when assets behave differently from one another, reducing the odds that any one type of catastrophe causes a severe loss.What are some ways that you can diversify in REI?

Combine this with the rampant printing of money we are likely to see inflation coming.