You need to ensure you are buying something that works as an investment first and foremost, then make it work for you the best you can while living there.

According to the Austin Board of Realtors (ABOR), last month was the best March on record for Austin with 2,714 single-family homes sold in the area.  Local home sales grew 10.5 percent year over year in March 2018, a...

I'm just one data point, but I assume your success will be more dependent on picking the right PM for your needs, rather than picking the "best" of those markets.If I were you, I'd use BP to get a short list of PMs in those markets and schedule some intro calls. 

Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Economic Analysis have good interactive data.

Ensure they have the experience to guide you appropriately and check references.In regards to the structure of the returns for the investor I would start with the return you would like to offer the investor and work backwards. 

The chart below is Denver focused, but it's interesting data. 

What fields / data do you want to collect?

If you have a home business, ensure your paperwork and tax records are in order.I found previous posts by other BP members on ED that had some great advice too.

I've been pretty good about doing most analysis and communication by email up until a property seems viable enough to walk, but hadn't thought of tracking my computer time to hyper analyze hours spent....probably have burned quite a few figuring out the methods of data collection and analysis.

Here's one data point based on my experience with a SFR home in Harris County (West U).