I have seen it hundreds of times... but again this is the US.. and its a free country.. then you have the bigger players in the market that swoop in and continue to pick these homes up with the 2 to 5% rule they will own many of them and run it like a business.  

This strategy does not work for REI unless you are a really big player and buying up large numbers of properties in a concentrated area. 

Like you said, there are good players and bad players in the turn key industry.

So COC is out of sight for those players ...

But you have to be a team player and contribute.

Unfortunately for most, the reality of these lessons only sets in after experiencing it firsthand several times.Good perspective you bring to it with your experience in dealing with bigger players and more seasoned investors.

If you're based in Dallas and buying a C/D in Houston you want boots on the ground there.  5 years ago maybe it didn't matter as much...1x month or ever 2-3 months site visit was ok. 

Lots of big players using some very aggressive underwriting the past few years. 

You will learn the rules really well over time.That's when you become a more experienced player and you will get better at this game as time goes on.That's the way I started out and I really recommend it.

If it creeps into the SFR developments.. that would be very interesting to see how the big players deal with it.