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.

Over the years I have found some great ways to find plenty of properties that have little or no competition. 

Definitely, would see Airbnb competitive threat for the vacation market.  

Half of something is better than nothing, especially in highly competitive markets.We see a million newbies post walls of texts about their dreams and aspirations and disappear/quit because they lack grit and this is merely a fad for them.

@Ryan PhillipsI think you're idea is more likely to work in a competitive market like San Diego, than the boonies but really it depends on what the bottleneck is for a given area.

I'm also looking to add to my rental portfolio, I like the idea of going after short sales to avoid cash buyer competition though i've heard from many its a huge pain 

Prices have come up a lot and there's more competition here now but prices still remain low with high cash flow.

Make your mailer look different than your competition if you want to stand out.

All very competitively priced to market rates.Beyond that, there are lenders offering programs based on your cash flow into your bank account for people who are self-employed but cannot really document a couple years of it.