Just remember, returns are a function of risk and effort, so don’t fall into the trap of buying low cost assets with the promise of high yields.

I'd look at population growth and job growth next.Cash flow is not only a function of the rent and purchase price, but also that of your loan value. 

Examples - owner occupied loans for house hackers, specific market knowledge (ie - friend of mine that ice fishes and bought a short term rental cabin in an ice fishing spot that you and I would never know of), ability to do renovation on your own or cheap, contacts with local companies or organizations that would be a tenant source for mid term rentals, ways to source off market deals, etc.Whatever it is, figure that out and get started.

If your only goal is just to find more deals, then Loopnet serves the same function but for free.

For the property management functions there's resources for screening the tenant that's easily accessible from the home page.

I believe most homeowners policies assume you have a functional buildings which you may not, that is where the vacant building insurance comes in.

@Manuel Mungaray you can reply to the discussion at the bottom of the screen instead of using the quoting function: 

Deborah Saddler, the information that I'm organizing at this time is more based around RE definitions and concepts, as opposed to formulas in Excel.

Also, it has to function as its own entity separate from you.

Appreciation (forced and organic)