We still have a hot Dallas market so if you want to stay competitive, it's best you have your financing in order before you make any offers. 

Rates: Compare rates between lenders and choose the most competitive one. 

So far with everything going on, I am pretty happy with a few things:- I was able to look through all the properties on the MLS that are in my search criteria in my local area to get a better idea of what a deal might look like here- I have been able to see properties and it seems like it is getting less competitive around here.

You can find great deals with little competition.

I think you have a good point with the recently constructed apartments, I would have to make sure to add some kind of value that they are not giving in order to stay competitive with them.

Utah has been so competitive a 10% correction would just stabilize it so there’s not so many offers driving homes above list price only to have an appraisal issue with no comparable properties.  

Organic (SEO) and paid.In this discussion Organic doesn't play a part because  well it is an investment in time and ranking #1 has not much  (well if you want to be very technical.. then yes it does... but for the sake of this discussion...) to do with a virus plaguing humanity.So lets talk paid marketing.With paid marketing you have competition.

Is this a sign that I should not invest in my local market and maybe should invest in other near by towns where there are many other investors invest there even though there will be lots of competition?

@Julie Marquez easier, but more competition from speculators outside of commuting distance...

Got a text from my portfolio lender today at noon that their funding supply was cut off and they couldn't fund... even after everything was signed and I was cleared to closeIf that's any indication of how cautious big money is right now - we can surely expect less investor buying in the near near term, which will definitely have a downward impact on prices in competitive markets.