Personal preference I know, but you want to appeal to the masses for rentals.

I personally prefer the Fayetteville market, but there is a case for both. 

Must be a single story house, prefer less than 1500 sq ft. 

Other than that, which bank  to use depends on what features the banks offer and your personal preference.

Is there a way that you prefer (in which to approach to investors that you don't know to offer deals)?

I'm in process of looking properties in Indianapolis but properties I'm finding are very old & that is making me nervous - being out of state investor, I prefer to pick a property that might have lesser maintenance issues.So as you mentioned, I'm still analyzing and any suggestion from friends like you all are highly valuable - thanks!

The bank's preference on whether or not the buyer & seller use the information on the appraisal during their negotiations is irrelevant.

I haven't included any utilities in my rents i.e. the tenants have always I prefer separately metered properties. 

The moderators prefer we not dialogue too much in the general forums about local meetups around town to cut down on clutter and help curtail advertising in the general forums.That said, I facilitate a subgroup specifically for newer investors as part of our local real estate investor's association AZREIA.

However, the owner prefers going straight thru our lawyers.