Many acquisitions are driven by 1031 exchange investors who have sold for profits and are parking with little leverage into safe assets.  

He's purely sales-driven.

Now you think in your head "Hmmm, 'lesser' friend A is really working me over, after all I've done for her!

@Roy N.Oui, j'en ai d'ailleurs rencontré un (sur BP) dans un thread récemment :)

However as the market for properties has driven prices up and inventory down, I am seeing that it is all that much harder to find the combination of excellent service (from rehab quality to property management) and good cash flow returns that I look for.  

That's mostly driven by my hands on nature and desire to establish relationships with my tenants and city officials.   

a.  Is

I knew the area, had driven by the building, etc. so it was already kind of a "known entity" to me...if that makes sense. 

A few companies created a profitable niche, with data driven analytics and promotion. 

Most passive investors are not just buying for the preferred return, rather they are looking for the complete IRR from the deal which is primarily driven by forced price appreciation and possibly loan paydown.