I have been narrowing down some markets and trying to explore/research more and network.

Let me know if you have questions, I really went through and through the process on this deal. 

This could easily cost you $10’s of thousands if you plan to stay in the home 5+ years when you return. 

The best way for you to figure this out is visit the platforms and explore their free trial (if offered).

REIA's, BP Meet Up's, General Cow Tipping Parties?

I asked him a lot of questions about the business and as soon as I got home I was doing research and joining RE forums focused on multi family.

Where to get the most recent and accurate data for things like:Unemployment dataPopulation growthJob diversity and top employers in the areaVacancy rates (eg huduser.org)Property taxes and jnsurance costsI saw bp pro and reventure and a bunch of other websites provide some of this data, but i wonder how accurate and recent it is.

You should to talk to @Andrew Postell He is the best mortgage guy for this.

Only in this house your mom happens to be the tenant. 

I made a relatively low offer and after one negotiation we settled on a price that was about 45% lower than the original list price.