Hey Curtis you should check out Brandon Turner's Rental Property Investing, it's a great book to start with.

Check with the county about permits and what is allowed.

Have you checked out local REIA groups or Meetup.com?

I would say only 1/2 would make it thru their quality check for size and color.  

We own a vacation property there and our board is looking to replace our current property manager who is under performing to put it kindly. 

(No mortgage on any).the cash flow is a total of $3,100 a monthDo portfolio loans exist for these kind of situations?

We rely on these kinds of records to make decisions.

We use Zillow applications to pre-select and run a full background check on mysmartmove only with the final candidate.

It is hard to really keep up with those kinds of trends unless I budget 10k a year in updating the property which I am not going to do.I participate in our local council/mayor meetings.

Even towns of less than 10k, as long as it is in a "good part" of town and there is somewhat stable growth in that area, then most lenders will not add any additional underwriting guidelines, especially if it is rented out.I always like to do the Walmart check (kind of what you recommended being by a store).