Are there new companies opening up shop?

@Tyler Wehrung I would shop around for another lender.  

Close to schools, parks, shopping and has easy freeway access.Long term tenants are good, although we may plan to raise the rents.

Always shop around.

I say usually not always but usually the bigger ones are.And what this means is they control their inventory have the teams either through sub contractor relationships or actual employees to carry out the rehab of these units.. they then have the management company in house and owned by the same people your buying it from.. this leads to one stop shopping as it were.. for the value proposition you have a rehabbed home tenanted usually at close..

Shop around, this can make all the difference.With a license comes extra responsibilities too.  

I have had some issues with the company mine is through and have thought about shopping around for a new one. 

Now that you have identified your target renter, target area, figured out what the rental comps will be, and worked your numbers backward to figure out what you can pay, you can start shopping for properties in that price range.

When shopping for deals I'll definitely have this filter of criteria in mind. 

This includes in a recent "out of market" area that I spent some time driving and walking around the neighborhood/area, analzying data online of shopping/conveniences near properties, comps, etc.