Rare do I hear of recommendations but I do hear people asking.I would think in any big city you think about, a visit to a local NARPEM meeting or 2-3 visits would be a great idea. 

The Property Manager will take half the first months rent if not the whole first months rent.  

Quote from @Tanner King: Where are the best places or best ways to collect data on specific markets?

I recommend you go visit a few times to network with local investors or find an investor friendly agent so you can gain local market knowledge, find off market deals and for things such as showings, picture taking or getting accurate comps.

What is the recourse for the tenant who signed the lease under each individuals name?

U can check out  ivyridgeestatescanby dot com for my 90 home project in Oregon that I did with my oregon bank and then my website for pictures of homes we built in Charleston SC which is the only market I tagged HML ( lima one) and only one time the rest were done with Ameris bank or Service first bank that is local in the market. its all about the three C's  Character Collateral and capacity..

What are the costs for the value adds, the expected hold time, and the expected sale price? 

Verifying last 2 years of rental history and income extremely important to find the “best of the worst”.Make sure you understand the Class of properties you are looking at and the corresponding results to expect.

This included all the data from the first 6 months of the year as I did not hire her until July.

@Susana Alcorta, Howdy, you have a lot to consider, let me give you one man's opinion.Let's tackle the selling the home or not in Pflugerville.  1.