What would you say is the average occupancy and daily rate for a 1500 SF 3 bedroom home in good condition around a mile from the beach / pier? 

What is the average selling price in the neighbors you are looking for in your city?

By analyzing metrics like average days on market over several years, I believe it’s possible to pinpoint investment opportunities in areas where specific property types (e.g., 2bd/2ba single-family homes) consistently perform well.Building on this, you can also analyze current rental rates relative to nearby "for sale" comps to estimate ROI.

Averaging $1k/mo per bedroom which is now on the cheaper side of things.

If you know what an "average" deal looks like then pull the trigger on one that looks above average.

But the average politician doesn’t want renters living in houses in their neighborhood.

I'd suggest checking local Airbnb/VRBO data or using AirDNA to see occupancy rates and average nightly rates in the area.

The average McDonald's employee could afford to live in 218 now they cant.

Our son still managed to get into his second choice of university (I am confident he would have got into his first choice without the demon years because even with the demon years both his gpa and sat where above the average for those accepted to Stanford).  

If you know that a 2BR single family rental averages $1000/month in your market and someone tells you they have a good deal for you on one for $175k how much time are you going to spend analyzing it?