As a Realtor, my investor clients are having a tougher time competing with a buyer who's buying as a primary residence.  

I researched this myself but law is way out of my realm of education or competence.

Is this what smaller buy and hold players like me should shoot to do?  

@Shaquille Shaw can't compete with the precise and polished response of @Twana Rasoul, but if you want to PM me the neighborhood, I can give you local insight on the demo.

Brokers and listed properties are clearly lower hanging fruit, since owner wants to sell, but you will be competing with a lot more buyers here.  

Would you rather compete against one person, or 1,000 people? 

I'm sounding like a downer here, but even when they do arise, you're competing against others who often have cash.

Inventory is low and buyers are having to compete for what is available.

If they weren’t, they had to sign off that they were either “sophisticated investors” and give educational and/or background experience to show they were competent adults, or indicate that if they had used a professional advisor.  

Look at the players in other places to see what worked for them and what didn't.