@Joe Splitrock - Ya'll dress up as Ebenezer Scrooge for Halloween ;-) *** also Jim should write The Book On Landlord Tenant Gifts - published by BP of course! 

Many of those published before the crash are classics - Think and Grow Rich, etc.Some, however, published before or around the crash, do not reflect the current legal and economic climates.

Be aware of the "Greater Fool Theory" and be careful of real estate that is packaged this way - the seller is going to do well - I am sure - especially if you intend to pay cash for these properties.We run a little Investors School in Baltimore - teach  negotiating and investing making offers as well as tenant management -Baltimore is also known as Small-ta-more - word gets around quickly if someone is taken advantage -We have BLACK LIST on the bulletin board at our facilities - we put names on that list who have taken advantage of our members - title companies - lawyers - contractors and so called investors and wholesalers -Be careful with whom you do business with in the little big town of BaltimoreI can't publish this list here - but be glad to read it to you -If you need some Pro-Bono advice - let me knowThat neighborhood you mentioned - values vary from block to block - not sure if houses will appreciate much there -Wishing you good luck - stay in touch -Charles

RMLS published the "affordability index" in their last Market Action report.

In many counties, like Denver County, they publish all the info on their web site.

There was a man named Bob Bruss who used to read 52 new real estate books a year, and then publish his pick of the top ten that year.

I wait till the last notice has been published giving the updated list of properties for the tax sale.

You might want to check out J Scott's book on Estimating Rehab Costs, available from BiggerPockets Publishing (I assume that you've already looked into it, but it's a great reference book on the subject).

There are probably corresponding discrepancies in appreciation as wellwww.rate.com publishes the avg $/sq ft for many zip codes, but I’m not sure how accurate it is.

I have read/listened to a lot of books on real estate investing and, quite honestly, the books published by Bigger Pockets are fantastic.