It saddens me to see millions of people strapped to their jobs, trying to protect their holy grail 401K, until they are 60, and then start taking their "distributions", having a couple of decades left to live.

These are some of the most successful people; CEO’s, tycoons, celebs, old and new money and investors on the planet.

Some people seem to get locked in to one place they find, or a place a friend or family member is selling without really evaluating the available market.In a small town in East Texas I would think your biggest risk is a big player coming to town that can absolutely crush a smaller player. 

Are people moving in or out?

Colder climates see fewer moves in the winter, and things really slow down around Thanksgiving and Christmas when people are busy with the holidays and family.Second, talk to your PM.

There have been numerous people on BP talking about how they paid application fees but they could never get their loans closed on any deal brought to the company.

Basically you can't have the yard be higher than 6 inches below the window sill (otherwise it would v difficult for people to exit out of this window in case of an emergency). 

Talk to the local CUs and get to know the commercial lending people.

True that. 99% of people will stay on the internet, analyzing deals and doing research but when the time comes to pull the trigger on a deal they'll do absolutely nothing. 

You should find a lot of resources on BP but I think the most useful people to talk to would be MF builders and local officials in your target areas.