Online resources are great, but they can only tell me so much - local perception, as you mentioned, Cliff, is worth far more IMO.  

Not saying normal people can't win big with that game too its just most good investors I know that play that game either only buy when they have a perception most others do not or when the time is really good like a few years ago. 

There are other landlords in our areas who have a different perception of what constitutes accommodations fit for students and they have a much higher incident (damage, eviction, etc) rate than we do.

It all depends on the overall market, the submarket, and the sellers perception of their immediate options.

You need to go over any mis-perceptions with the contractor in order to evaluate their pricing criteria.

My point is that some of the neighborhood perception stuff can be subjective, so you have to check it out for yourself to see if you feel comfortable there.

Furthermore, there is a perception that contractors don't want to go by a contract or a written agreement which is one of the base components of any good partnerships.

That said, because of the negative perception of Ferguson right now, make sure to buy really, really right as I imagine you'd have trouble re-selling in the near future.

@Brian Watkins I tend to think some of the Atlanta zip codes you mention have more of a perception of crime then actually high crime rates. e.g.

Has it always been like this or is my perception right?