There was an influx of investors over the past few years who have come and gone because they couldn’t compete with fix and flips and thought notes was a passive way to earn huge profits.

Know that you are often competing against well funded groups of investors who are capable of paying whatever price they want for a property.  

As Patrick mentioned, I would be careful to be competing with the new builds and stick to more affordable price points or places with a large yard or no HOA that will appeal to a different group of people than the new builds will.

Once youve made an apples to apples comparison between lenders, weigh both the cost differences AND the differences in quality/competence.

I hear a lot about standard personal loans, mortgages, etc - but do banks or smaller players consider situations like the above?

Please shoot me a PM if you would like to chat or just say hi.All the best,Phillip DakhnovetsGuardian Property Management & Maintenance Hi Phil,It's great to see another member on the forum from Toledo and investing in Toledo.Same here mate.I've travelled the world, lived all over the world and bought real estate all over the world.But I'm yet to find a market that offers a "better bang for your buck" than Toledo.Been investing in Toledo since 2014 in buy. fix and flips and also property management.I don't see myself investing anywhere else.Why fix it if its not broken.Downside to Toledo is low appreciation and difficulty finding motivated and competent staff.But is probably more so me being a poor people manager than the actual market itself.Wishing you much success in Holy Toledo hehe 🙏🙏🙏

I can at minimum, provide insight into certain markets/ball players to connect with based on your strategy. 

However, in that scenario is you can compete on price even 5% cheaper you may win.In FL - Clean and comfortable interiors with awesome backyards do much better than awesome interiors with blah exteriors.Obviously to have it all is the best, but dollar for dollar exterior amenities in FL have a higher ROI.

Also Look at Jim Abbott the baseball player. 

Some brokers/lenders do this intentionally to give false appearances when trying to compete - "See, look how much lower my cash to close is compared to that guy."