These are the real competitors.

rather than use an agent or go to one of your competitors.

Don't look at them as competitors as much as allies.

we unfortunately dealt with this several years back with a competitor in property management that embezzled a large amount of security deposits.  

Becoming friends with your competitors can be a big plus!

Yes, I recognize that I can pick up PM clients from my competitors.

For me I only have them in my properties which are in nicer areas because there it seems most of my competitors have them and I encounter tenants who are looking for them.

I'm sure they will pipe up shortly.Personally, I have never used Mid South to buy properties, but I have an outstanding working relationship with them (we are friendly competitors here in Memphis).  

Hi, @Mark S.We are friendly competitors with Mid South so I don't buy from them!

THAT my friend is the ONLY rule to SEO.As long as your website can MEASURABLY provide more value to your traffic than any other site you WILL rank #1, no matter how many friggin backlinks your competitor has.So in order to rank #1, STOP thinking about Google and think about pleasing your traffic.Credibility gets your forms filled and SEO gets your site seen by everyone.So in order to rank #1 the first step is, asking yourself what would give value to my traffic?