There were roughly 350-400 that came up between Friendswood, League City and a few of the surrounding towns (All of which have pretty strong markets). 

I have chosen the Durham market (primarily for 2 reasons, I am tad bit familiar and also would like to own it as either a secondary home/rental property).The question that I have is, property taxes in Durham county are pretty high, roughly 1.3%, but I have been told by a property manager that the assessed value always comes up lower than the actual fair market price or the sale price (on a new home), and it's more in the tune of 1%.

We have been lucky to find a great electrician, plumber and HVAC contractor, however we are pretty particular and are concerned with the workmanship of others doing the "finishing type work".   

RMB construction is pretty good.

The property is new, located in a very good zone and in pretty good shape, the only problem I see is that the offices are huge; there are two bathrooms (70 and 80 SQFT),  245, 385, 355 and 185  SQFT offices,  150 SQFT waiting area and about 130 SQFT of halls. 1750 SQFT total.

@Andrew Wilson a couple of things here:If you are using a Fannie/Freddie loan (those are the ones with the lowest rates on a 30 year fixed) then the cash out limit on a 2-4 unit property is 70%If you are seeking cash out in the first 6 months, Fannie/Freddie loans will have some pretty detailed restrictions. 

My realtor / manager is pretty adamant about taking the buyer as other buyers may be FHA and could take longer, etc.

My realtor / manager is pretty adamant about taking the buyer as other buyers may be FHA and could take longer, etc.

The ones that you heard got bad reviews are actually pretty good.

The requirements for the DPA are pretty clear on the website.