As a Realtor, I can tell you that these deals are not easy.One key player is the buyer's title company.

It's tough to get a good deal on properties that are already rehabbed as you're competing with retail buyers who frequently overpay.

I am having the most difficult time finding and RE Lawyer who is either competent, isn't an @$$ or will call me back!

Develop a relationship with a seasoned, competent real estate agent or broker in the area now.  

You are not competing with anyone and just working 1 on 1 with the seller.   

As you mention in your posts the ATL area has a lot of competition and the big players will beat out anyone getting started most of the time.  

Be a good community player.  

I feel like this would be a really hard market to try to break into as postlets.com is owned by Zillow and they are a major player in real estate. 

The flip side of that, is 1) if they're open 24/7, they're probably going to charge a lot2) if they're called out for a $3 plumbing problem, even for non emergency repairs, they'll charge $250, and 3) I need some safeguard from my tenant calling them for frivolous repairs, or from a tenant who is just purposely trying to raise my costs.What suggestions do you have, and how can I find a COMPETENT team of people, who are AVAILABLE when they're needed, and have reasonable rates?

If you are playing in the major cities, it's not a great cashflow market, instead, it is more of a market timing market where you buy, hang on for dear life and then sell.On bigger deals, you'll find mostly pension funds, insurance companies and large REITs competing for a short supply of assets and driving down cap rates.In smaller cities/areas, it acts like many other US markets.Overall, very high barriers to entry, but you can see appreciation that other markets can only dream about.