I would wager a guess than any town of ~60,000 or less people may have less agents per capita or at the very least they be easier to edge out than the streamlined agencies in big cities.

I am apart of a team of 3 that is in the preliminary stages of property/market research.

Go to www.privateeye.com lets you run a preliminary search for free.

Ask them for a preliminary title report and for a firm estimate for what they will charge you for an owner's policy.

Whenever I have doubts about clear title on a short sale, I have my title company run a preliminary title search to see if anything is lurking out there.

But the architect should be able to answer these questions for you with some preliminary investigation.

Put together some nice materials explaining who you and your team are, the kinds of deals you want, your investment thesis, the kinds of due diligence materials that you require to do your preliminary underwriting, etc.Then, go through your team of attorneys, accountants, management company, mortgage broker, contractors, etc., and ask for personal introductions to brokers.  

I have an investor who is liquidating several properties and based on the preliminary information I've received it seems he's asking retail for the properties.

I've run preliminary numbers, and this property seems too good to be true.

@Nicholas Moffett Sometimes they have a preliminary title report as a document attached to the listing.