Great areas but highly competitive. 

They are a dime a dozen so competition drives down rental rates and you have to deal with HOA'S  that could change the rules on you.

If you want to be active and get better returns than the syndicators you need a competitive advantage and a lot of time to execute your plan.  

Looking for better options in the competitive markets.

This has caused at least 3 major problems: 1) the market is now oversaturated with Airbnbs, 2) rental rates have come down bc of so much competition, 3) there's a dire shortage of workers available to service the huge increase in the # of Airbnbs.Wait times are often a month or longer for service providers.

Today's market is extremely competitive.

Check some local competition on Vrbo and Airbnb.

Great - that means I can get the $800 units without competition and at a lower price.

I am based in NYC but the markets around me are significantly out of my price range and highly competitive.

 A spreadsheet and a few minutes of checking the competition will get you what you need with the most reliable data.