I narrowed down those names from a list of almost 400,000. 

#BRs Baths and narrow location will be able to help there... jump on zillow, or trulia and see what other LLs are asking for in the area where you are looking...

Check out City-Data.com for income information, to help narrow down your search. 

For instance I have a tape of over 500 right now that I'm narrowing down to fit within my company's parameters. 

We have it narrowed down to two names.

When determining utility averages, how narrow of an area/areas should I be looking to find an average for?

and congratulations on making the decision to invest for the first time :) I have written a blog post that may help you narrow the choices for a real estate agent.

I wrote a blog post that may help you narrow down your real estate agent choices.

Setup time to speak to a few of them to learn more about their model and get a feel for how they answer your questions, how they treat you during the call.Be prepared to share your net worth, income, and investment history with them if you want move forward.For the ones you like (after speaking with them), maybe have them send you example investor communications on prior deals so you can see how they communicate to keep investors informed.Once you've narrowed it down you'll want to further evaluate the sponsor Track record, references, etc.Have them present a past deal in detail to try to understand their assumptions, are they conservative, etc.You can use the BP Tenant Screening tool to get criminal and credit history.

Narrow down the strategy (if rentals, what kind of rentals, which neighborhoods, etc). 3.