Most of my competitors had become reliant on bank financing.

Those 50,000 rely on my and my competitors properties to make a living.

With respect to 3.) what I meant by counterproductive is that if I work with another agent, is that agent not creating another competitor, at least a potential one?

So if a PM or contractor attempts to cheat him, he can instantly pull many properties from them and give it to a competitor.

This helps reduce the chance of a freelancer stealing your entire code and becoming your competitor, but you’ll still have to learn enough to put the pieces together.In the software world it’s almost impossible to protect your product.

Assuming STR's are hunky dory, what do your competitors look like?

The competitors in the market do not seem to be doing well since all of their pictures are taken from their phones, and the beds look like they are from 1873.

As a sanity check, I always check my top competitors to see what they're charging and their occupancy and then I adjust mine accordingly. 

@Nidal Daraiseh easiest method might be to use Cozy (or one of the similar competitors) and create a rental application for all of you to ‘apply’ for.

The good news is that most of your competitors (investors in CA looking for cash-flowing properties) are NOT willing to take major steps in their investing career.