It's not fair but it's there and if you're in a tight knit community you'll be amazed at the sway those folks can have.  

It truly is a small close knit community. 

It's like the biker who decides to walk onto the golf course and relieve himself in front of a bunch of beret & pink green knit cardigan-wearing country clubbers who stomp around and hollar about how "tough" they are, he's going to be arrested, this is an outrage, some people....

If you are serious about separating yourself from the pack of other investors it is important to work with others and build a tight knit group.

I think as individual mom and pop landlords we need to really temper our personal preferences with what is the overall good for our business.If I knit picked every little fault that my tenants have, then I would never have any tenants.I guess my point is that the perfect (to our own liking) tenant doesn't exist if you self manage. 

The investor community here is pretty tight knit.

Family, sports, eating, knitting?

Additionally they grew up in the close knit community and know everyone including future tenants, so on top of the regular tenant screening they will provide an extra layer of verification.

So its a tight knit group and I think it offers some diversification... you still need to do YOUR DUE DILIGENCE though.. remember these are asset based loans make sure you like the asset. 

It's definitely not true in all cases, but this is something you'll often find in mass-marketed offerings that are trading more on their ability to run broad communication than their relationship and track record with a tight-knit group.