After watching some Bigger Pockets vids, one of the guests found a cool web site / tool that would show you the rank of schools to help you find nice areas / neighborhoods to invest.

Some of them also sell motors and other furnace parts, plumbing stuff, etc.There are Web sites that will sell you appliance parts, and it's good to use them as a price reference.  

Slot of new apartment buildings going up.

MaxIwhat the web address for Lexis NexisIs their fee to use Lexis NexisIs it very dependable (nationwide / local information only)

You might have to do a bit of surfing the web to find one that you are comfortable with.

. + don't omit CTA ("subscribe", "repost" etc) with clickable "phone" (both in a posts and at the web-site), triggering links and buttons .

You should be able to find zoning rules with your municipality on the web.

I would tho like to be more self funded is there anything that u have read like a book or web site that  you recommend that could offer a better in sight to doing so?

It's amazing what you can stumble across when searching the web, I had no idea that this website even existed. 

One of the the new hosts of the Bigger Pockets Rookie podcast is Tony Robinson and he has jumped into the STR game and even offers some pretty cool web calls to help answer questions.I'm in Western NC and doing well with 4 properties (under contract for #5) Good price points on homes, close enough to Asheville and occupancy has been fantastic.