During my initial research, I did narrow it down to neighborhoods such as Independence, Raytown, Ivanhoe and a few other areas.

I'm working with a local independent bank rather than a broker this time.As to whether I got a good deal from the brokers on the 7 or so loans prior to this one...probably right.  

@Eric L DeLareDepends on what your looking to do and your personal situation, I have a couple brokers, a couple portfolio lending banks, and a couple others I can recommend for this area (Central MN) .Feel free to reach out on any local house hack questions, market price is quickly moving up as we statistically trail the TC market by 18-24mnths, and avg per door is now up to $70k and climbing where not long ago was $50k.

It would be great if they are independant and can get quotes from multiple firms. 

One of the more interesting findings from the article, Covid independent, was preference ( or lack there of) for environmentally friendly homes for Millennial home buyers.   

https://www.har.com/content/newsroom/Houston Real Estate Highlights in May:-Single-family home sales fell 20.2 percent year-over-year, with 6,671 units sold, marking the second straight month of declines fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic;-The Days on Market (DOM) figure for single-family homes grew from 54 to 58 days;-Total property sales dropped 20.7 percent, with 7,917 units sold;-Total dollar volume dove 25.9 percent to $2.23 billion;-The single-family home average price fell 7.4 percent to $298,199, the first decline since January 2018;-The single-family home median price was statistically flat at $249,000;-Single-family homes months of inventory was at a 3.5-months supply, down from 4.1 months last May and below the national inventory level of 4.1 months;-Townhome/condominium sales dropped 36.0 percent, with the average price down 2.3 percent to $206,146 and the median price up 2.9 percent to $175,000;-Single-family home rentals jumped 11.9 percent with the average rent down 2.8 percent to $1,822;-Volume of townhome/condominium leases fell 4.6 percent with the average rent down 4.6 percent to $1,586.

Answer to your question is typically not but in this case that structure is completely independent. 

For starters, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the unemployment rate likely would have been three points higher (16.3%) had all the households surveyed answered the government’s monthly questionnaire correctly.

The OFE may retain an independent, outside party to conduct the evaluation.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics website is very opaque and I can't seem to find this kind of historical data there.