Good luck with your ventures! 

Make sure you understand local tenant law etc.The fact there is a property manager in place might save you some headache, maybe keep them 6 months to help you get control of the property.

One is simply a matter of control.

This demand comes from primarily high priced markets were the cost of entry is quite a bit higher than the quote un quote turnkey markets of Central US and deep south and Rust belt cities.. that's were the inventory is that can be bought.. there is more houses than there are owner occ's to fill them.. so this creates inventory for flippers for rental purposes.. take it another step along the food chain an these companies realized for customer care and a full service package they needed property management in house and tight controls on rehabs..  

@Greg Bishop, I'm just shaking my head about the amount of control government wants to exert on a 'free market'. 

@Mindy Jensen  I've just never done it where I didn't have complete control.

You control this cash flow through increasing the rent and/or reducing those expenses.

@Ken Breeze  The people you are dealing with are probably venturing in to new territory for them. 

However, now that I see that the HOA is the one with most of the “for sale” lots, I’m concerned that they may be setting the “market value” and propping it up and/or they have too much control on what the market value is since they have such a market share.

I called and had the city tell me the unit was under rent control.