1) Research Zoning of similar property2) Do search with same zoning criteria with propertyradar or have title company give you a list.3) Possibly filter by satellite photos to eliminate undesirable topography.

The 1% rule is simply a rule of thumb type filter.

I would also suggest using Pricelabs to create a comp-set and filtering for 29+ days to see the listings in your market that require 29 or more days.Here is a great article: https://help.pricelabs.co/portal/en/kb/articles/using-pricel...

They expect us to replace lightbulbs, won't change furnace filters and we also have lawn maintenance issues with them.

That filters out 99%+ of the issues. 

It’s about uncovering high-demand niches that hold up even during fluctuations in the broader market.What I’m describing aligns partly with absorption, but I’m looking for a tool that allows me to drill down into the components of that absorption rate—filtering by factors such as the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, home type, amenities, and more.Do you see merit in this approach?

It offers monthly accounting reports, online payment options, website creation ability, maintenance requests (filtered by property), advertising, online tenant screening, lease creations and tenant/property match functionalities.

+1  Real Estate Investing Data and How-to Guides - This here shows that you can filter to Multi family but I don't see it as an option as well.

I know I’ve read people say we don’t need to pay for help but it’s a bit intimidating trying to filter through all the real estate information.  

And for the record there is a HUGE difference in the amount of odor in a unit from 3rd hand smoke which is what carries in in your person when you smoke like clothes smell and breathe smell vs the smell you get when there’s actually smoking in the unit.