., title company / attorney fee, recording fees, etc)  I have done this once and am thinking of doing it again, since a cash offer is more competitive and the numbers still seem to work with the homes I’m considering (I’ve estimated that the extra cost in my case is ~$1200, which doesn’t kill the deal)

For the uninitiated, SXSW is a global convention hosted in Austin every spring.

HUB insurance does operate in NB (about 5-years now) through what appears to be an affiliation or acquisition of local brokerages (they weren't terribly competitive when we last shopped our insurance).  

The 2 things I see in the image below however are low occupancy rates and not a lot of competition. 

Am I sleeping on other areas that would be better with less competition?

The only way to really know if prices are competitive is to shop around to 3 - 5 vendors and pool the answers.

Also there are a lot of competition for these homes on the rental sites so be prepared to put some money into it to theme it up to appeal to the families that rent these.

See below:Also,  Hard Money is best if you are in a competitive situation or market.

In a competitive market if you are a buyers broker or sellers broker they are still want the highest price for you to get the potential property. 

Electrical, paint, plumbing, pest, lawn service, cleaning, etc, 2-3 tries for each one until you find someone that's reliable and competitively priced is not much fun.