and want people who are responsive and have the time/patience to interact with you.Also, search YouTube for what title companies do, how they doe it, and what are the costs in your state and locale.  

So it's maybe not even so much a state being landlord friendly, but more what's the aspect of the county and kind of what's their take on landlord tenant, , interactions, legal proceedings and so on and so forth.

Again, the BiggerPockets store has some books for this or you can learn by watching podcasts, reading blogs, and interacting on the forum.

Though it is a negative cashflow move in the short term, I fully anticipate rental rates to catch up to the expenses in about 3-4 years and break even monthly.

Additionally, determine the anticipated after-repair value (ARV) of the property.

How much do you anticipate spending for renovation, and can this money come from the NOI or will you need to spend it out of pocket immediately after acquisition?

Compare that to low cap expenses of a new build and any higher rent rate associated with the new build as well as any anticipated higher appreciation and run your numbers over a 5-10 year period.New construction may cost more upfront but may make more sense with an extended timeline.

I'll personally benefit if it is for the current year (anticipated increase in income), or is the benefit to be realized only for the actual year it was placed in service?

It will almost definitely be more expensive and take longer than you anticipate, and those HMLs aren't cheap. 

So many landlords set up these types of additional escrow accounts and fund them monthly to try and anticipate those expenses - but these are separate from the lender's escrow for taxes & insurance.All the best!