Sadly this industry is ripe for a company to come out with a product that does what we need it to do, be versatile enough with it's software that it can expand and have the customer service that is accessible.

Some agents are also wholesalers and/or get leads from wholesalers.That said, it is an industry that has some grey areas to it from a legal perspective.

2) Time spent by others: to qualify for the test "100 hours and nobody spent more time", how do we track the time spent by others and what proof would be required in the event of an audit?

I'm also from Detroit and currently looking for my first rental property and you're right, the forums are a great tool but I would also consider attending some local real estate events/seminars and networking with realtors!

Also come from the construction industry on the material manufacturer side.

Maybe there are networking events that I can attend.

Rental fraud is prevalent in our industry so be careful.  

In fact, the Note Expo was his event. 

Most events are baby showers, weddings, birthday parties, but they've also hosted 'market' type events with vendors and such. 

Use census and trend data to evaluate overall markets - population growth, age, job growth, industry diversification etc.