What you can also do is attend local or long-distance meetings and meet with people who are landlords in NYC. 

The previous owners did a do-it-yourself remodel which had tons of red flags if I had taken the time to cross-reference the sellers disclosure with the inspection report, but at that time the market was hot and I had to move fast.

You might be able to find a local lender near you and meet them in person as well. 

I would love tips on how to use this service effectively to identify the best properties that meet my criteria. 

To achieve this, the rental income must meet three requirements.Rents Must Outpace InflationInflation steadily erodes the purchasing power of a fixed amount of money.

However, Northern Utah seems to me an extremely hot market right now, with deals closing before they can even hit the MLS.

I haven't heard of any meeting scheduled.  

I host a monthly investor meetup here, so feel free to stop by sometime and meet other investors.

After we meet with tenants etc, we send them an email link with the Lease Agreement.

So hard money loan in my name, down payment and carrying costs covered by her but we still need to meet to hash out the details.