The house includes high-end upgrades such as custom cabinetry, granite countertops and energy efficient appliances.

We appreciate you giving us the opportunity to review your property.Best regards,"I replied back asking for more specifics, wondering if it is the Milwaukee market, the Wisconsin market, the multi-family market, or the property itself, and I got crickets....At the very least, I should get better customer service explaining why.

Are the podcasts a totally different user/customer base stream than the forum? 

Your market is expensive, I wouldn't look for normal working class people as your target customers.

Pay your attorney and your CPA for a customized advice. 

If you switch to or stay with the custom tax settings, you'll need to update the amount of tax collected to 7.75% because the 9% city tax will be collected and remitted by law to the city on your behalf, but  the 6% state and 1.75% county tax will be collected and sent to you to remit to the state and via Avenu to the county. 

I have great clientele with repeat customers and wonderful word of mouth which keeps me busy enough to fill my summers and time off during the school year. 

Every little thing in the project should be in writing, even down to the door stops :-) See my tile spec sheet below ...Two problems with your post though - 1) In my experience, most problems come from the customer changing their minds constantly.

Quote from @Brandon Weis: In your opinion, as you are starting out at 0 reviews, do you think it is a must to beat the competition on price to overcome customer's hesitancy or lack of trust with no reviews?

They don’t believe in good customer service.