Yes the government wants the "magic fairy dust" as I call it.I see it with banks as well.Sometimes the bank believes in an appraisal that won't fetch half the value.Since it's a "third party" appraiser they believe it to be most accurate.The problem is appraisers aren't in the field talking daily to investors doing deals like I am.Even if I can convince the bank they tell me they agree with my value and comps it's just that right now they can't take the hit.They can only take small hits over time.The government I am sure sees this the same way.As an investor I wouldn't want to be "in bed" with the government on houses.They have shown not to be good stewards of money or to make thoughtful programs that work in the real world.That leaves you intertwined with the government for years and years which I would equate to a nightmare situation.As far as the SS or REO driven market it depends on your local area.Some areas only had a few foreclosure to begin with and have already recovered.Other areas a foreclosure and short sales can be up to half of all sales still today.The reality is the buyer when looking at a remodeled house versus one needing work will go look at the REO or short sales.Then the buyer will compare in their mind IF they want to do the work to gain sweat equity or just pay for a finished product??

But, I do keep an eye on it and still get daily copies of new REO listings in the area.

Of course those are home runs, but they do come up when you are doin a lotta volume!

Although I work with real estate investors daily, I am new to real estate investing for my own benefit.

You will have to pay for this service but depending on volume the fee's are reasonable. 

@Brandon SnyderWhat do you want to do.. high volume, or high dollars? 

I'm already utilizing my standard financial statements (Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Statement of Cash Flows, General Ledger, Trial Balance, etc), but I've also created and I'm still working on a few tools to allow me to track and analyze overall trends in my real estate portfolio on a daily, monthly, and yearly scale.I guess my final question would be what systems have you put in place which have allowed you to succeed as individuals/groups in real estate?

He also thinks sales volume will be flat and prices will grow by something closer to 5 percent.

When you follow up with them mention that in your email or phone call and it will help you along the way.Question of the Day: After consuming over 50 hours of podcast during the past two weeks during my daily commute and while interning in a finance position I've started expanding my knowledge of the real estate community.

I don't want You driving all over to several projects daily, but if you can pick up some good info over a couple projects that would be huge for you.