I am just starting some research on the area and wondered if anybody could give me advice on what areas and Zip codes to avoid and which offer the best fundamentals.

It is a hard call.From a macro perspective the fundamentals are not really supportive of prices for the medium term (1-3 years).

Meet Kasita: The Micro-Housing Start-Up That's About To Revolutionize Real EstateWhen I ask Wilson what fundamental problem his company is solving he tells me without flinching: “Kasita is on the verge of disrupting the urban housing market in ways not seen in real estate and development in 150 years.”

Is that mainly investor driven or there are strong fundamentals to back up such an increase?

Pretending that fellow professionals in the same industry of yours are fundamentally dishonest is bigotry, and flat out professional racism. 

(I haven't bought in NJ but the fundamentals should be the same)Are there other prior liens on these properties, how many and for what amount?

From there, we are looking into breaking even while living for free.Whenever the opportunity presents, I will later be updating this thread with pictures pre and post rehab, rental cash-flowing numbers, and any relevant crunchy details.When in doubt, leave emotions aside and go back to fundamentals.

But once you get outside the radius that people are willing to commute in that area, it's going to be hard to say that the plant has any effect at all.If the other major fundamentals are not there, I would say that the Foxconn plant would have little to no effect at all.

. - but I see way more risk out of the SD market, then within our market which has strong fundamentals for buy and hold investors. 

It has been my experience that 2% deals are MORE risky than 1% deals ... that is why they are priced at 2%, to compensate the investor with potential cash flow for the extra risk they are taking on ... if they weren't as risky, then the market would likely drive the price on them up to 1% or less ... so the idea that you are being more conservative by investing in 2% rule properties instead of 1% rule properties seems fundamentally backwards to me.