A lot of the major cities here are competitive, but most across the country are.

Their questions are: They know in this competitive market it is hard enough to find one good deal.

I understand there is a lack of inventory, but how do you make sense of these numbers for a viable deal?

It seems like it might be best to find that middle 'sweet spot' and go with the median level of finish then in your case (sounds like not wanting to invest a lot to update, and want to keep cash flow at max.)If I were to run comps and see on the high end of area rentals it meant all new countertops, appliances (high end), hard wood/laminate, kitchen cabinets etc and on the low end it meant more of an 'apartment level' finish - I personally would go for the middle road to this and maybe choose to refinish countertops, refinish kitchen cabinets and go strictly mid-range on appliances (I would pick up the extend warranties personally).In hitting the kitchen and baths, getting some fresh paint up and addressing flooring- I would know the heavy 'where the eyes are drawn to' items were checked off my list, take it all for expenses come tax time and be pretty happy to know I was right in the middle zone for the area- I wouldn't have the lowest quality of renter pool in the area, or be worried about overpricing myself out of the competition on the high end in my mind. 

Seems to me that they are in competition for my business, or should I concentrate on building more of a personal report with a small few lenders? 

Several times I will get on a site and become frustrated because of the lack of focus.

One of the pros of smaller brokerages is that you may end up with less competition from big money investors from out of the area.

My competition is minimal relative to the world of single family homes.

It’s a competitive market but don’t be discouraged it’s do-able!

I'm no help because I totally lack imagination but I'm interested to see what suggestions are made.