I'm staying away from SFR's (not to mention condos/townhouses) that are in any kind of decent shape, because the competition is so fierce, it always ends up in a bidding war.

As you know atlantic city has hurt by casino competition from other cities with 3 casinos going bankrupt.Jobs are what make a city a great place to invest .This results in depressed property prices.

Ever since I started learning multiplication, division, fractions, etc. in school growing up I've had many, many problems with math.

All my rentals are in other regions of the state where prices are a fraction of what they are here.  

That being said, I can appreciate your concern and want everything to work in your favor without an obvious turnoff.This is a good argument for both testing as well as collecting competitive mail pieces for examination and critique.

I went shopping during the holiday season when there was a lot less competition.

As you can propably tell by now it is high competitive market in Georgetown and Lexington; however, there are great deals out there every day you just have to be able to find them and hear lately they have been coming to us because we have a large network that knows we buy houses and my wife is a mega agent/broker in Lexington.  

How are you finding the competition?

Not over your head at all...Congrats - you have some good ideas....What I would suggest is a prop that is lower than market based mostly on cosmetics...flooring, paint, minor drywall, possibly cabinets, etc...you can get substantial discounts & still get the 1st time buyers rates & programs & such - then hold for a few years & possibly rent it out....or another option would be HUD foreclosures - they have (in our area at least) a 10 day "owner occupant priority" - before the true investors can even bid on them....much less competition....you may want to look into that avenue as well - Whatever your method - congratulations...

Not that my couch/entertainment center/dresser/whatever was any better quality or cheaper than the competition, but the buyers usually commented about how good the items looked.