Where is the best place to begin to start searching for a property and to find the comparisons/statistics to make sure it will be a profitable investment.  I will be self managing this rental and from what I have read...

We were the only bidders, but that was because we are in a "no good deals" market (a suburb 45 minutes south-east of Manhattan).The home was vacant for a year or two, but we lucked out and the home was somehow winterized (a rare find).

Suburb southeast of Manhattan, NY.

I owned a co-op apartment in Manhattan for 10 years. 

Keep in mind, you want a solid B/B+ class neighborhood in any of the 4 boro's (Manhattan is a class of its own) a two family home is easily 650K+ for a half decent two family (each 2br/1ba) house with good income tenants.

I would say Manhattan and Brooklyn are the most expensive but in general all NYC is expensive when compared to most of the country.  

I was living in Manhattan NYC when I decided to start investing and trust me if I had fear of competition I wouldn’t have left my apartment !

Of course that I will not buy a rental house in Manhattan area, even if I want to, I don't have the money.

If you have any interest in Manhattan specific REITs, we should chat. 

I'm an agent in Manhattan, but nothing around here suits my criteria -- or my price of entry.