Nevertheless, in order to compete for the reduced number of tenants in the market, landlords are offering other inducements, such as months of free rent and generous "TI" allowances for tenants to build out offices the way they like.

With the advent of online auctions, it makes it easy for national players to bid almost anywhere. 

And your CPA is going to be a key player with a portfolio purchase helping you make a strategic allocation of basis to the new properties.What's new in this market is the rise of the truly "national" lender. 

Young ones smart with tech like @Kurt Lane capitalizing on the confusion the older players are experiencing and can pick up a few places from tired LL's.

Make sure to use a competent broker who has the knowledge and resources to handle your growth.

The other piece of advice I have is that you need to lower your price point to a place where you can compete on a more equal footing.

But your average realtor isn't an investor, and will most likely sign on with a big player, higher commission split brokerage.

@Marcus Robinson No competent agent agent is going to advise their seller to let you tie up their property, take it off the market, for you to try and go find a buyer.  

Or if you buy something with an FHA loan you are competing against all of the first time home buyers who this apparently is their time to shine and they have more cash then you and are willing to pay more for emotional reasons, not investment reasons... 

Because, in a down cycle, you have to basically buy, renovate, and flip, or buy and flip very quickly so that you don't get in a situation where you are competing with a whole bunch of foreclosure properties.