Not only is it free but the information in each segment is so valuable.

Who I use does vary according to the market segment I'm in, and honestly, sometimes just how busy that person is at the moment.

And here is the issue with it and why "maybe", because that's clearly in the "growth" segment of things and what is the opportunity cost of growth, for self-managing?

The segment between 250k and 450k is the most competitive.  

They are still a segment of housing after all.Go back 40 years and the quality of the homes was terrible. 

There is a generation of younger renters and a generation of impoverished longer living senior citizens and neither segment is happy with the rising rents.

I attended a real estate networking event this evening in my hometown of San Diego, CA, and during a segment where we each stood up and introduced ourselves to the group, I mentioned that I was interested in doing the BRRRR strategy and purchasing my first rental property in Ohio by the end of 2019 - someone in the crowd shouted out "Mistake!"

my view is that there is a segment of the market that is very underserved. 

In this area and that market segment, if you have 70 DOM with only 2 showings that is likely indicative of serious mispricing.I agree the marketing is crap, although pricing may be a bigger problem.

A very large segment of the FIRE community is primarily doing this to be able to devote their lives to the arts after they "retire."