Friends of mine who are property managers have given me information on the company they use to do their background checks and that I can also do a check with the local sherrif's office. 

My goal was to buy single family homes in distressed properties ( short sales, or NOD leads by calling home owners and seeing if they want to sell before they go into foreclosure)  in a growing population area with strong job growth and buy, add value , and rent them out for tiny bits of cashflow and wait for appreciation. 2 main questions I have at the moment. 1) How did you pick your market to buy your first investment? 

Most small offices would be okay with you working under their license from home without requiring desk fees or floor time.

We currently have 13 local offices but nothing currently in your area.

You also need to call an eviction office as each court workload is different.Vacancy assume 8% (1 month) for estimating reason.I will carry more liability insurance as extra.

@Cameron RileyI have a home office and manage all my properties + do maintenance and rehabs myself. 

It is a 2600 sq ft with 3 bedrooms, 2 bath and an office.

I don't mind adding value to the deal by acting as the buyers' "loan officer" throughout the process.

I have done commercial loans for multi-family, retail, office, etc.Mark

Call the tax assessors office for the tax rates in your area.