I'm new to the industry and was wondering if I could get some advice on how to best conduct a market research or websites to use to find out the best markets for REI?

I went to Big Sky for a summer bison conference and ended up buying a truck there in Bozeman and drove back.

I invest in single family homes in Louisville, KY and I am in search of a great contractor to conduct rehabs of rental properties that I am acquiring.

You'd need to line itemize the closing costs and tell us how much you're buying the property for to get a real opinion of where you might be getting hosed, if anywhere.For an example, on a recent $200k cash purchase closing I had here in Raleigh, I paid $550 to the attorney for his fee to conduct the title search and close the loan (this is higher than I typically pay but I closed at an atty's office that I don't usually close at due to other semantics surrounding the deal itself and the seller). 

Will identify the building, conduct the due diligence, buy it and hold it for 3 to 5 years.

Do we have them pay the deposit first and conduct a background/credit check?

He told me to obtain a mechanical permit and building safety inspection for the heater and have a licensed contractor conduct the work per California state law.

I have personally had many DISASTROUS experiences in owning such properties, and I hate to see others go through such things.That said, if you are convinced that you are going to do so, I'd conduct many interviews with local property management firms, and do a LOT of checks on references, etc.Good luck to you and I hope to see you around BiggerPockets!

I have heard MANY of he prominent national gurus speak at REIA conferences, etc and almost without exception they are nothing but cheerleaders.If you pay attention to whatever you're attending this weekend, you'll find that they really don't say anything (other than the obvious) but they spend all their time cheerleading!

Your other alternative is to have a CA Broker conduct the transaction on behalf of your client and pay you a referral fee.