Do they need to be registered with a local real estate board? 

Outside of that you can look at crime rates, etc but having a boots on the ground or local expert would be the best benefit of where to look in a specific market.

The only people that can truly answer your questions are the local brokerages.

I attended seminars, joined meetup groups, and regularly invited local professionals for coffee to learn from their experiences.

You can start with reading his books (Multifamily Millions) and go to a local seminar when they are in town.

If you ever stop rolling over to new dsts and paying that 10-18% in fees, then you’ll owe all those taxes anyway…It reminds me of the large local swap meets, gun shows, craft shows, etc etc etc….    

A great way to find a good team member (contractor, agent, partner, attorney, lender, PM, etc.) is at a local Real Estate Investor meetup.

.- consider investing out of state if your local market is not cashflow-strong.- set your 'living off rental income' financial goal to ~2x what you actually spend every month, just in case. i wouldn't let go of my other income streams until that point, but that's a personal comfort level.- if you CAN live off other active income, you can keep reinvesting your rental income and build wealth faster. david green preaches this on the podcast a lot: find a job you aren't trying to get away from.

I never heard why but a big name local developer bought that land and the plans so I'm excited to see what he does. 

Investing out of state can be a good option if your local market isn't a good fit.