For example, while the HVAC system may have a couple more years left on it, if a buyer is trying to decide between your house and a competitor, and the major difference is that the competitor's house has no deferred maintenance and yours does, he'll likely go with your competitor's house.On the other hand, if your hand is much nicer than any competing house in the neighborhood at the same price (and is also priced well), you may not have to fixed stuff like the HVAC system to get a sale.In other words, without having big picture about what you're trying to do with the house and what the competition looks like, it's impossible to recommend whether you should replace old (but working) components of the property.

Generally I have found their quotes to be much higher than the competition.

Have you tried pricing out a specif unit that you want to buy competition is fierce and many sell for ten's of thousand over list price .

I've read there is a record number of new apartments coming online in 2nd half of 2019 which is concerning (50% of which is located in downtown Cleveland) as, it would seem to me, that these new properties will provide steep competition for renters and make existing older buildings less attractive places to rent (driving vacancy up and rents downward).

I don't think the market is totally saturated yet, and even if it is getting close, I think there is a lot of opportunity to market better than most of the competition.

Be a cut above and offer better value than your competition.  

No way that works in a competitive bid situation.

This value-added amenity attracts renters, provides a huge competitive advantage and encourages renters to sign more expensive leases, as they know they can recoup some of this money through short-term rentals.

In my town, there are still some students looking for housing in the summer as well as those that have jobs in the area.What is your price like compared to the competition? 

First-time buyers tend to be more concerned with results from inspection reports because this is their first time buying a house, but then again I've seen first-time buyers ignore major issues because they simply wanted the house so damn bad, especially in more competitive markets like Sacramento where they've already lost out on several homes previously.The best solution is to conduct your own inspections prior to listing the property, and you can resolve any issues you find prior to putting the property on the market, and also be able to provide the inspections to the buyers so they don't even do their own.