I still have plenty more to explore, but am I just going to be treading water if I keep looking for contractors through online sources (yelp, homeadvisor) that won't blow my budget?

I'm going to move and will be in a location where I can easily invest in a few MSA's within easy driving distance.The challenge to getting a solid handle on what those MSA's are doing overall is finding decent data: it's either for a single point-in-time (not showing year-over-year trends), dated, not reputable/no idea where it comes from, or too much money to take a chance on it answering my questions.Any recommendations?

At that time you'll have more data on what is current market rent, which may be higher or lower than what you are assuming now based upon a single competitive rental.But being $100/mo below market rent may be no problem (worth it); if you've got a good (trouble free) tenant - as you can easily lose many times that in a turnover.

I think my prolongued exploration of it shows I do not want to do anything against rules or I would just do it and not care.   

I will definitely continue exploring the website for more information.Thank you so much.

When one of our clients asked for specifics we dug into the data.

We are currently exploring which market would work best for us.

Looks like a wealth of information.Thank you @Don Harris, I very much look forward to exploring those avenues.

Once you get all of your data together, present an offer based on those numbers and be willing to share that information so they understand the lower offer.

This data, or lack thereof, will tell you a lot about both parties.