I've shopped through all, tried most of the various types mentioned above and have arrived at Mobile Home Parks.  

Most residents are just moving into this area because of it's walkability and tons of restaurants and shops in the area and are close to transit. 

I use a mortgage broker myself, so they shop around amongst 100s of banks for my loans.

One insurance company dropped us for almost no reason and we had to get aother company for $400 more (of course we will be shopping for a less expensive company but alll sorts of unexpected expenses drop out of the sky when you are a landlord)   The condition of our duplexes  were near perfect as they are only 12 years old.  

Do most people run a one man/women shop?

It just becomes a priority of who they shop their deals to.

Other places I've shopped for cheap cabinets are Liberty Home Supply (on Caesar Chavez) and Discount Builder's Supply (by DBI), but I can't remember how good the natural maple looked - I was looking for natural cherry at the time.

From the window shopping and research I've done, the best deals seem to be the fresh ones on Loopnet, whereas the worst (or at least the sketchiest) are usually the ones on craigslist.

A good bird dog is a bridal shop owner or flower shop.

@Dan Borecki,Really it boils down to shopping around for the best rate and terms.