They seem to have all of the tools and provide a lot of back-end support to their franchisees. 

What resources or tools are essential for conducting thorough market research?

If Jesus came back and got into rentals NO, N-O-B-O-D-Y get's admin access into our system. 2) They want a standardized list for maintenance items so they know in advance what repairs would cost.Being a PMc I'd invite them to acquire any of the readily available construction estimating tools/software out there such as RSMeans, but would not take on such a task as building and maintaining such a database, honestly for any $, it's simply not what we do. 3) They want a copy of all invoices from contractors to us so they can verify we are not marking up more than promised.A-ok. 4) They want to be able to talk to our contractors before work is done (each time) so they can talk contractors down in price themselves.I'd be fine with this as long as they sign a waiver that they own any/all negative impacts that result from such including extended vacancy periods, vendor refusals of service necessitating there own self-search to secure amicable vendor etc etc.. 5) They mentioned that they pay around $300 for full paint in a 2-bedroom unit.... we do not have a contractor that will touch a full paint on a 2 bedroom for $300LMAO!

It sounds like you're embarking on an exciting journey in real estate investing.Investing in the Pocono area for short-term rentals (STRs) can be a lucrative venture due to its popularity as a vacation destination.Take the time to thoroughly research the Pocono area's vacation rental market.

Plus using LOIs can be a useful tool as well.

If so, what resources & tools do you use? 

They acquired another management tool I was using, so I was then migrated automatically.

Its more of a screening tool so that you don't have to deeply analyze deals that likely won't cash-flow. 2.

Real estate can be an amazing tool for reducing taxes.

The most popular sites for MTR besides Furnished Finder tend to be Airbnb, VRBO, and Zillow.