CAR I understand completely. One thing though is that it really is a slippery slope. The direction that our country is heading is one that concerns me and I shudder when I think about incremental loss of freedom as regulation increases. It is a slippery slope. Okay so you totally outlaw flippers. What about investment for rentals? Right now some of the purchases (at least at trustee sale) may not be ripe for a flip but may represent some decent cash flow opportunity for a rental (especially in light of savings rates) right now. Do those get taken away as well?

Yes we agree 100% on the answer which is make things more STRICT for those who haven’t saved for a large downpayment.

However you run that idea up the flagpole in this environment and you will likely be called a racist in about 2 seconds.

So what do you do?

I agree with Pem you hang in there. You guys will get your places. It will take time. Also don’t think in the negative (hard for me to do because I always do that) and think about hiring someone to go to the auction for you. Look at what is available that day and by 9 am send them down with the cashiers checks. It is not as hard as you make it out to be and many of us have other jobs as well. Set your max price and let it go.

JP would you have bought Beryl for 450k? That is 32k more then the auction but you would have the home free and clear. Again, I know it is not easy to do but the mission is not as impossible as you guys make it out to be.

Also I think you are seeing a delayed effect. Many of the flips you have seen or are seeing are leftovers from the run we have had. I believe you will see those start to dry up as we move forward. Some of them will go sour as well. Hindsight is 20/20 and the bottom we had in 2008 is passed us by but will come again driven moreso by rates then anything else. Hopefully the rates will be high enough and our govt will be indebted enough that they cannot continue to subsidize housing but one never knows.