Resources to vet out of state multi-family deals for a rookie inv

[Rob Pagarigan]

Good morning BP!

I have been lurking in these forums for some time now, eager to jump into some smaller multi-family properties with the goal of cash flow. I am a rookie investor from San Diego, I have a vacation rental that I purchased last year in the mountains of southern california and it has been doing really well over the last 6 months. I am planning to refinance that property soon and pull some cash which I would like to put into a smaller duplex to quad with a value add component. These would be B or C class neighborhoods with stable rents. I have several contacts in two different areas of the midwest who I trust for general neighborhood growth/gentrification information and I have been very busy looking at the stats through various websites that I can check online with statistical data. I may be getting to involved with the research as I am finding a lot of contradictory information, not only between what my real estate contacts say and the data, but also between the various data websites. If anyone out there has some reliable data mines or sites can you share what they are?

Also, any other advise on vetting cities is greatly appreciated, I would also like to connect with any out of state investors in the San Diego area as well!

Cheers, 

Robb