There are some podcast that will help sift through faster or more efficient.  

Who will accept the applications and spend hours and hours sifting through them, calling them, showing the place etc. 4. 

Sift through it and go from there.

Be prepared to sift through a lot of junk data looking for the useful stuff.

On hotels.com there are tools to sift through any list of properties based on an array of optionsNotice you can not only specify various amenity types, but can select accommodation type, neighborhood type etc... kictchens, internet, gym, business facilities etc... is the very least of your concern.This isnt just a tool available in New York only by the way... all cities basically.

I am diligently sifting through lenders and I also have a lead on a possible private loan to buy the off-market property.

I am more referring to high level analysis sifting through the MLS trying to identify potential deals. 

The reason I decided to pay them (which wasn't much, less than $40 including chocolate for the cashiers) was that they were able to follow my guide lines using their system avoiding hours of online research and sifting through properties I wasn't interested in, and starting the relationship building with the ladies at the county office.

It's also a numbers game and you have to sift through everyone's biases, lots of posts, and a lot of crazy one-size-fits-all nonsense to find the golden nuggets of information, just like any learning experience.It's also easy to find answers to basic investing questions. 

When you go to a TK provider, yes they've sifted through the bad investments and found you the best one and will manage your rehab and will place a tenant in with their PM group but, you sacrifice deals or opportunities when you go that route and..are they really the best deal on the market?