There are definitely pros and cons to each so I figured I would just lay out a few benefits and personal thoughts: Small banks/brokerages:Pros:- Some regional knowledge of the market- Possibility of more creative lending guidelines with bank specific programs- Sometimes they have competitive rates for their areaCons: - weak balance sheet (more strict on some guidelines, no wiggle room, inability to be flexible or grant exceptions because they cannot afford to hold less than perfect loans)- Can't scale with clients to different markets- Usually limits exposure to individual investors (they don't want one investor to be too big of a portion of their balance sheet)- Lack of experience with multiple solutions (tend to have 2 or 3 loan products they sell and are too niche to provide tailored solutions)Large banks/brokerages:Pros:- Large compliance departments that understand individual market guidelines (typically each state has specific lending guidelines that augment the national baseline)- Ability to scale into multiple markets with same lender (licensed in many states)- Impossible for individual investors to "outgrow" a large bank's balance sheet (not concerned with one investor's concentration)- More lending solutions available for different scenarios- Often comparable or better rates given the game is volume basedCons:- Can be more difficult to get fast responses if the bank/brokerage does not have good follow up systems in place (or if the underwriting/processing staff gets overwhelmed)- Bad large banks can feel less like a relationship and more like a cog in a factory (less personal)Overall, I have worked from both and worked with both as a loan officer, branch manager, and as an investor/client myself. 

According to the experts at Realtors Property Resource—a premier data provider and a tool from the National Association of Realtors—we’ve got some interesting trends to discuss.

The ZIPs in Realtor.com’s Top 10 are seeing nearly 4x as many views per listing and selling 1 month faster than the typical home nationally.

Ok @James McGovern, I will let you know how I DO get discounting from builders, and nowadays I all but exclusively do this with BIG builders, yes even some nationals. 

For those examples, I'm speaking of the National and big regional builders like Pulte, Lennar, DR Horton etc.

I have been told by few brokers that national tenants need 1 acre to even consider it.I wonder what tenants might be appropriate for this location.

I'm a college student (studying agronomy) in eastern Idaho, living with my wife, daughter, and bernedoodle .

We see ourselves competing with national home builders in the markets we build in.

@David Jones @Maryann Nichols   Don't take any of the national courses. 

@Gabriel Alfaro I would suggest you check out CFRI, the local chapter of the National REIA.