Decent at analyzing deals, but need market help!

[Tiffany Griggs]

Hello,

My husband and I are new to real estate investing and haven't done our first deal as of yet.  We have committed to analyzing 5 deals a week and have been committed to this for more than 5 months.  I think we have a pretty good handle on this part.  Now, we need to figure out how to analyze markets.  There have been several properties that we really like and fit our requirements, but aren't sure if the market area will support it.  What do you do to analyze a market area?  We aren't restricted on a specific state or region (as we live oversees so all will be long distance investing), but we want to make the right choice as far as area.  We've listened to several podcasts (several times over) and read a couple books, but none have given specific information for determining a target market area.  We are from SE Georgia (Savannah and Atlanta), so we know both those areas fairly well, but don't feel that either will give us the returns we are looking for.  

Also, how realistic is it to think you could get a distressed property for 50% (or less) of the asking price?  David Green as mentioned it several times while on podcast and I always cringed because I think it may be a little more fluff than reality.  What are your thoughts?

Last question (for now), do you have any suggestions for acquiring a loan?  As stated earlier we live oversees.  We have excellent credit and a decent down payment, but have not been able to secure a low interest loan.  We are only looking to purchase a small multifamily or portfolio with a couple SFHs.  

Thanks