Depends what you call a deal. The obvious discounts go to cash buyers; the opportunity for you hides in the listings other buyers skip. The genuinely discounted properties that cross our desks tend to go to cash buyers targeting a rehab or a fix-and-flip. Those homes carry real problems, condition, title, a seller who has to move fast, that a retail buyer with a mortgage usually can't touch. Different game than shopping for a primary residence. Among ordinary retail listings, the picture tracks inventory. In supply-starved markets like coastal Southern California, little sits around underpriced, and most homes sell at or above fair value. Markets carrying more inventory give you more room to negotiate and more listings that have sat long enough to soften. When a deal exists, it's usually the listing everyone else skipped: dated kitchen, awkward layout, bad photo set, too many days on market. Those homes go to patient buyers at a discount because the competition thinned out. So rather than wait for an obviously cheap home to appear, buy something with fixable flaws that scare off other buyers, in a price range you're comfortable carrying. If you want help pressure-testing whether a specific home is a deal or just a lower number, that's a good use of the free Roadmap conversation.