@Patrick Pan, if I was operating in a state where that was a concern I would just contact their current landlord for a reference.

Also a good opportunity to learn some DIY maintenance and make some contractor contacts,etc.  

But it sounds like we'll have to swallow our pride and take your advice and contact a few real estate agencies.

One metric we do use when we're able to pull the data are permits pulled & what type of permits pulled in an area.

Tools like PropStream, Redfin, or Zillow’s market data can help you identify neighborhoods with high demand and favorable price-to-ARV ratios.

Been trying to research and connect with trustworthy investors, but I feel as if everyone who contacts or post are out for themselves and really don't want to help others trying to get their foot in the door.  

Great tips @Collin HaysAnother "tip" is make sure you are working with a seasoned STR Realtor or your Realtor is conferring with someone like Collin a season STR Property Manager.At least once a quarter someone contacts me (as a PM) and either wants management or wants my opinion on a property and the property is illegally zoned or otherwise unsuitable for STR, although their Realtor is telling them otherwise. 

Instead of having to enter personal info and upload an image of your driver's license for each Reporting Company, the Individual FinCEN ID allows you to input your personal data once and then link the Individual ID to your various Reporting Companies. 

After my initial email contact with my mentor I wrote out a list of questions for our phone call and we worked our way through them during our call.

I like https://quantmaps.com/ if you want to overlay some data.