I agree with @Eric Lackey about his assessment of competition.

You're correct, it does limit you just like owning a condo does (surprise assessments, not being able to rent, etc.) 

When I told him my much lower assessment of the property's value, he offered to find me a lender who would finance based on the wildly inflated sales price.

Things that aren't listed on the assessment are usually because they were never recorded.

I'm looking for general advice and an assessment of my rents.

Let me guess, lots of empty units where nobody is paying the HOA so you are being assessed extra?

I read a really good blogpost, https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/05/10/invest-out-of-state-how-to-analyze-a-city/ that talks about a city's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).

But Patrice B is right in the fact that there are many factors going into an assessment of value like # of bedrooms, baths, sq ft, condition, age, location, etc.

Save yourself time and money, understand how to properly value a deal (which includes assessing the risk as well), keep it simple in the beginning. 

@Oyama Lewis  not only are you taxed 6% of assessed value, you are also charged at a different millage rate as an investor.