Has anyone found tools or a process to make accurate rental estimates without eating up all your time?

@Mike HannemanYour post was overly dramaticYour property is done and rented so either eat the hard money interest for 6 months with less cash flow or go find a local credit union who will lend based on portfolio Not that hard

We both have had great careers and always had everything we needed, but something about getting up every morning and going to a job that is not fulfilling really eats at me. 

Driving the streets, talking to locals, eating/sitting at a local cafe, and personally getting a feel for the different areas will allow you to understand those dynamics and therefore allow you have an edge over other "out-of-state" investors that just rely on those reports and long-distance phone conversations.

Now, its also possible to use an IRA to invest in real estate, so you can have your cake and eat it too, BUT it makes investing more complicated. if you want to try that route, you better do some research first.

They can choose to stay home and eat the candy their parents purchased or they can go out into the neighborhood.

Value can be eating at Cheeseburger Bobby's  for slightly more money.

They could decide that they no longer want to allow owners to rent out their property or drastically increase the fees that could eat into your cash flow.

Vacancy will eat away any profit you were hoping to get from a higher rent.Have you posted on all the site? 

If you do this, it will eat up some of your equity in double closing costs, but if it makes sense, then you can consider it?