We pay close attention to the market and review market data through Zillow and Craigslist regularly, as in at least four times each year we put together spreadsheets on the competition on a square foot basis. 

You wanted a competitive advantage so you waived your inspection contingency.

Since there is higher competition, you typically can charge a bit more.

Although because there was so much competition I offered higher than listing price, knowing that with the appraisal contingency and the fact that the house should appraise lower than offer price, I could negotiate down a bit.

There are plenty of competitive financing sources through non-conventional lenders that focus on investment property loans.   

What I love best about investing in real estate syndications is that it’s relatively easy to build a framework around diversification by niche, region and sponsor.Niche Diversification - Many investors consider investing in real estate syndications in order to get better diversification within real estate asset classes Typically each sponsor has a specialty in a specific type of asset class that they have a competitive advantage in.

STR can work out in eastern CT, but they have to be near the casino and priced competitively when compared to the hotels in the area.

Considering its in an LLC product that seems very competitive.

I hear some markets are very competitive for hard money.

In smaller less popular towns it may not make a difference and you may not have a lot of competition, but right now in the bigger cities, the markets are on fire.So my suggestion would be to set yourself up for success between now and then where you can qualify for conventional.