How to stand out in a crowded rental market?

[Adam Pridmore]

I am currently shopping for my second rental property in an area that is undergoing revitalization and should offer nice capital appreciation down the road.

The problem I am running into is this area already has a crowded rental market, including many section 8 properties. If information I find on Zillow is accurate then it appears many of these properties are staying vacant for many months at a time (perhaps these are the properties that are not listed as section 8?) The mortgage on this particular property would be one that I could handle paying out of pocket for months at a time, but I don’t know if it’s going to be worth battling constantly as I hold out for long term appreciation.

Each area that I look at with properties in the price range that I am shopping seem to have this same issue... I am becoming rather frustrated and am looking for insight from the community.

Thanks in advance for any feedback you all can provide.