They're based out of L.A. but they finance deals all over the country at competitive rates.

There tends to be less competition here because only certain brokerages can deal with HUD homes.

I guess this is the state of the Houston market..too much competition and not enough supply. 

@Joshua Reed - the members that have responded so far are accurate - it can be tough to do deals in and immediately near NYC because of competition, amount of capital required, etc.I would suggest finding and area a bit further away where you can do deals and not have to battle so hard. 

I find lending home to be the most competitive on rates and terms IF you have experience.

Oil companies may also have a tie in with the equipment lease.The absolute best situation is to own the real estate, own the operating business, own the equipment, and have no long term contract with any gasoline provider, in a heavily trafficed location with no direct competition, and a high volume dealership.  

If your property is better than your competition, you won't have any problems.  

if your local area is super competitive, might be best to adapt an alternate strategy until you can invest at better value. - on portfolio loan strategy - great BP blog post here:  https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/04/0...Thought this might be interesting for you based on the longer term vision you have.  

Surely none of my competition will be doing this!

You need to add more original content, continuously, and learn SEO strategies so you can set yourself apart from the competition.