There may be sites or services that will give you a vacancy number.

It's a numbers game.

I had allowed a contractor/handyman doing work on various properties I manage and own to live on site while he was doing the work in one of the apartments. 

I'm working in West Tx and would love to meetup with someone who has been playing in the Lubbock area real estate game.

The only time you lose anything, is when you're out of either game. 

My fiancée and I are looking to buy our first place maybe next year, I was hoping that I would be able to put 5 - 10% down and still get first time home buyer (cmhc site specifies primary residence, not investment properties).

I know the type of marketing it requires to be in this game with lead gen tools, mailings and bandit signs, but I was more less confused on what contracts do they use?

Identify gaps in supply in that neighborhood and look at the property as a potential development site.

I'm having trouble putting faith in a tech company to provide tech services that I can't even get setup.I give a lot of leeway to the program simply from the BP referral to the site... but has anybody used this yet?

If a rough estimate is all you need, I'd suggest doing a Google search as I'm sure there are plenty of sites that will give you such a number.