building an apartment complex.....advice needed

[Andrew Caldieraro]

Hello,

I'm looking to possibly build a smaller multi-family apartment complex (10-20 units) in the Midwest.  I am wanting to start off "small" so my loan won't be more than 1-1.5 million.  I am looking for advice regarding who I can contact  that can give me solid advice on what areas could use apartments vs what areas are over-saturated? In addition, I am looking for advice on who my target audience (college students, low income, moderate or higher income, etc.) should be for the specific areas?  Most of the town/cities in my area have 15-25K people in them, and we are within an hour from St. Louis, MO.  Maybe I should try to locate some local property managers for advice?  Or get in touch with a RE consulting company (john burns, etc.)?