New Member in Mobile Al

[Aaron Williams]

Hello all. My name is Aaron Williams. I am from Mobile Al where I work as an Industrial Maintenance Electrician. I am married with two kids. I found this site from the BP podcast. I have wanted to get into real estate investing since early in my career as an Electrician working on some flips, and even more so now as I look for good investments. My goal is to build a portfolio of rental properties as a cash flow and retirement plan since I don't have much faith in the security of my 401K. Right now I am focusing on my education and I have a ton of questions. 

If someone would be kind enough to point me in the direction to answer my biggest question that would be awesome. I wonder how do I go about finding information about properties in my area, such as the average time rentals properties stay vacant? Or how long the average home is on the market? Or is this information that is not readily available? 

Thanks a lot.