The licensing requirements are to lax, offices do not want to train a future competitor, and the boards give little, to no, training on how to actually run a company.Yes......it is very frustrating, but not a lot we can do about it.

Randy most counties and cities have laws against bandit signs.You are right in that most do not work on the weekends.You might be better off hiring someone to hold a sign for you as there might not be an ordinance against that yet.Example it might be illegal to put a sign in the ground for your area but not have someone hold a sign.I tried bandit signs years ago and it just didn't work great for me.You can out some high up on a telephone pole,etc. where they can't easily grab them.Usually a competitor or the neighborhood watch or a good citizen type will take them down.

Great blog post suggestion on avoiding competitor flagging, where most flagging comes from:http://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/4240/blog_posts...

If they won't for that, call their competitors and use this experience to motivate you in future dealings.I once looked at custom home lots along with two women friends.

Just saying, let's not make it sound like it's Fannie Mae accepting 85% non-owner occupied loans and it's your competitors having "overlays". 

If the rule stands it will just add work to the process and will likely cull many competitors.

I have never gotten a sense that they see wholesalers as competitors because they typically don't want the properties that the wholesalers deal with. 

Goldman-Sachs.Wasn't a bad week in 2009, put your biggest competitor out of biz, keep your own company alive and tell everyone that AIG needs to be kept alive (since they insured a lot of G-S debt).

My Agent recommended a good electrician for a rehab who did great work around 1/2 the price of his competitors bid. 

We tale a LOT of our competitors marketing efforts away for free, while they spend a fortune on marketing.