., after you verify the rents and the major operating expenses like taxes and insurance, and apply your own experience about the typical costs to maintain and the amount you need to allow for potential vacancy), you decided that these properties are being offered at something closer to a 5% cap rate.Before you spend any more time or effort considering these properties, you know that, at their asking prices, they are not worthy competitors for your investment dollar.

Now, it's falling apart, and its competitors are mastering the great experiment that Sandy Weill engineered."

Instead, some banks have moved to acquire weaker competitors."

Tie this little dodge into the history of intelligent and brutal business sense & it just heightens the respect for these sharp dudes.They both get to watch their "competitors" take it on the chin PERSONALLY now, while JPM & GS execs spend their "private" bonuses on the French Riviera all by themselves.http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?

Damn, I just armed my competitor!!!

Rochester has been a very hot market for cash flow investors, I know, because it is one of my biggest competitors!

If it helps, your competitors have to wait too. 

Get a website, and out-do every single competitor that even dares to look upon you.

Could also be that your competitors have access to cheaper money.. given that it is 1-4 units, they could be buying to owner-occupy one of the units and get much better terms.

I would say for every 80 letters, we got 1 deal, but this was 5 years ago and I understand the market has changed and there is more competitors for deals.