My in laws have tasked me and my wife to find them a suitable rental property. They have given us around 100k and I've been trying to wrap my head around utilizing this money in the best way possible. We live in North...

In New Brunswick and Nova Scotia all recent sales prices - since 2009 in New Brunswick - and tax assessments are available online without charge.

Or in NoVA?

First time SFH prospective buyer in NoVA - not as an investor, but to live in. 

I think it might be slowing down from "Super Hot Nova" to "Extremely Hot".

My in-laws live in NoVa and got owned to the tune of about $20K by a contractor who pretty much messed up his entire scope of work, violated his own contract through-and-through, then threatened to take THEM to court (I had no idea of any of this until later :-/ ).

I was going to make my first purchase in the summer but a deal presented itself and I purchased a property in Nova Scotia.

I'm pretty sure no one else offers it in the Bay Area, so it's not unreasonable to assume that your lender will become the only one offering it in DC/NoVa/MD (that youtube video is a couple years old and only has 1581 views as of this post- this is flying under everyone's radar), which certainly bodes well for you.

Nova Scotia and Québec are two other rather tenant friendly jurisdictions.   

I'm working primarily in the NOVA area with an emphasis in Prince William County.