Lastly, I am terribly pessimistic so take my observations with a grain of salt.

Oh, since you are local to the Salt Lake area make sure you connect with @Jeff Rappaport, who hosts a wholesaler meetup every month that is really awesome.

The metrics are important, but they should be taken with a grain of salt.  

Crime statistics don't show it to be bad, but I only take that with a grain of salt. 

What I am doing is daily trying to learn my market (Salt Lake City) by running numbers on deals that I see daily from MLS hot sheets that my realtor has set up for me.

hey @Shaun Morgan , I don't have too much experience in this field so DEFINITELY take my opinion with a pound of salt, but from my education in entrepreneurship and from what research on the topic I have done, when it comes to private investors it is less about what info you bring to the table on the first visit and more so how you approach the situation.

 Any bookkeeper worth their salt will be 75/hr + (i know as that was my gig for 20+ years) I would find a good CPA to set you up and maybe have them recommend a bookkeeper. 

Your agent is incentivized for you to overpay and get the deal done quickly so I would take their advice with a grain of salt.

You can take the ratings and comments with a grain of salt, but if many people are saying the same thing about an apartment, there might be a grain of truth to it.

But I don't think this is the norm for experienced flippers, no.As a lender I don't work on a lot of cash deals, so take this post with a grain of salt. :) I see these flips only once in a while, after the flipper does such a great job they decide they want to keep it as a rental & thus need to refi.