In hindsight, this made sense as their responsiveness, listing quality (photos, description), and understanding of market rates were subpar.

A nice but rental quality unit gets 1500-1650 regularly in that area depending on the size and finishes.

They already have a track record (good or bad) with you, so you can decide based on payment history, inspections, etc.

The Austin metro market is approaching that territory.Here are the full stats for Austin and the greater metro:On the rental front, a recent Redfin report placed Austin atop the list for the largest year-over-year decline in median rents among US metros:Appropriate rental pricing and high-quality marketing are vital to navigating the current leasing market effectively.

Is it good or bad with a lot/little REI activity?

They tend to have worked with a lot of PM's in the area and can help you weed out the good and bad options. 

Lenexa feels a bit too pricey for me, but Olathe seems to be growing, so that wouldn’t be a bad option either.

They're shady builders with poor quality construction.

Yea the thing that was confusing was that the listed rentals on Zillow or Redfin had pretty big discrepancies in price while they appeared to me to be of similar quality. 

Another lesson I’ve learned is that buying a single family home as my primary residence to later lease to a tenant is a bad strategy unless I’m purchasing the property at a really low price.