I am looking to purchase real estate for both investment purpose as well as to offset as much tax liability as possible. 

We lived in the property for 2 years and rented for 2 years to tenants, so by selling now, we ensured that we could avoid capital gains taxes.

If you think ahead, you can minimize recapture with the right tax planning.So what is recapture?

Any tax pro who is familiar with REI will be able to help you.

Yes, property taxes are higher for investors but not terrible. 

I would be beneficial to determine if they are other aspects of the property that make it a worthwhile investment (tax, appreciation etc). 

After 20+ years in real estate partnerships, here's what actually puts you on the IRS radar (and what doesn't):REAL Red Flags That Matter:The Partner Complaint TriggerDisgruntled partner files Form 8082K-1 disputesPartnership disputes leading to tax filingsReal Impact: Instant IRS attentionSuspicious Loss ClaimsLosses exceeding investmentArtificial basis inflationSudden large losses without economic realityExample: $100K investment claiming $500K lossesRelated Party GamesCircular property flipsBelow-market transfersFamily partnership schemes without substanceWatch Out: IRC §267 and §707(b) violationsDebt Engineering Red FlagsBasis inflation schemesArtificial guarantee arrangementsPartner debt shifts near year-endCritical: IRC §752 compliance matters!

Quote from @Fred Scott: Sunrise Capital Investors - Mobile Home Park Investment FundI've seen a few posts about them here but none of them actually talks about what the actual annual returns have been.They are advertising heavily for passive tax deductions which is fine but what are the actual returns over a period of (say) five or ten years?

As U.S. citizens residing in Europe, we are required by the local tax code to hold the property in our personal name.

Where to get the most recent and accurate data for things like:Unemployment dataPopulation growthJob diversity and top employers in the areaVacancy rates (eg huduser.org)Property taxes and jnsurance costsI saw bp pro and reventure and a bunch of other websites provide some of this data, but i wonder how accurate and recent it is.