We are not in business to co-suffer with other competitors and now we are in basic survival mode.

@Jon Klaus I did purposely set the rates a bit lower than our closest competitors, to encourage more bookings and get more reviews.

The issue is the standard for lead swipes is low and so if there is any dust around you can fail.

My competitor has an even more profitable rental plan... he rents to convicts just released and gets ridiculous rents as he loads up properties like this renting rooms and gets paid by the government for housing the ex-cons...  

Find out what your competitors are charging to see if you can offer your tenants a better deal.5.

Even when I help say my competitors, other agents in my market place...I will often get referrals from them since I am licensed in several states, while most of the agents on here or at the REIAs are only licensed in one of the states in my market place.

Actually, we should all thank our lucky stars that RE is so hyper local and it takes hands on management ... because of that, it is one of the few areas where new locals have significant advantage over larger competitors.

In my opinion, the harder it is to get, the better because fewer competitors will take the action required. 

in the college town I deal in, the college apartment competitors will give you clue to what the leasing practices are.

I want to differentiate myself from my competitors but don't know how yet.