After an initial scan of the inventory you could narrow your search down to properties with 30+% potential equity. 

You can find data on this at www.bls.govas well as at www.city-data.com .It may take  time to narrow your search, but the 6 drivers above should give you a good place to start.

If you go turnkey, the company should be doing everything in-house, so it would be a one-stop tour of all those things (except the night drive, that one's all you ;) .It might be a bit of cash upfront, depending on how many markets you decide to visit (I think you should narrow it down to one or two) and the time of year, etc, but it honestly will pay you back in peace of mind.

And then obviously you can get as narrow as you want with location depending on where you want your deals.

How do I quickly narrow them down just by scanning through listings on multiple sites?

You'll find great success in B and C grade MF, little returns in A grade, and small odds of success in rough neighborhoods.

(If you haven't already, start narrowing down your long term financing options)

My head is sort of all over the place on what way to get started in this, but basically the way I have narrowed it down to is by my dad and I finding our first property, then him cosigning on a mortgage in my name, fixing up the house, getting it appraised at a higher value, then going back to the bank and doing the same thing over and over again. 

The best thing to do is to narrow down what the basic expenses are for a property, and work down from there to find what the probable net for your personal management style will be.

Clients who are “open minded” and can’t have their goals/wants narrowed down often are tougher to work with, just my personal experience.5)Yes you own your business and set your standards etc but don’t be afraid to work extra hours and go above and beyond for people who are serious & respect you.