This will allow the team to develop and review project processes and management strategies to move forward with more challenging, yet rewarding, properties.I come from a very process-oriented background (Mechanical Engineering), and my goal is to learn and develop each step of the process, from start to finish, to continuously improve the team and ROI of each project. 

I guess my challenge right now is to define the strategy and balance all the factors, such as job and population growth (value increase), cashflow (demand & supply market, interest rate, property tax, maintenance cost), and risk control (insurance etc). 

Work on your credit, and look for a deal that works on any exit strategy.

If you want out, you have to either sell low enough where the numbers make sense or one of these other creative strategies.

A primary residence will most often provide more favorable loan terms so if you are willing to wait one year while you living in your new property and are comfortable with renting out your primary residence to a tenant, then getting something such as an FHA loan is a good strategy to minimize your upfront costs and hopefully get better loan terms.

Look at their marketing strategy.

What other data should I be watching?

Curiosity got me.. does anyone else have a favorite strategy for keeping deposits crystal-clear?

What’s been your go-to strategy for finding property managers that really excel?

Sounds like you need an agent and/or contractor based on your strategy.