Also look at how resources or boundaries e.g. major streets, highways, parks, schools, commercial districts, etc impact these metrics.Finally, I'd advise to try to go neighborhood by neighborhood.  

The fact of the matter is that as long you can justify that your time, effort and savings realized by this project, as well as its impact on your bottom line then you are made whole.

The state recording office (here) records mortgages (from which you can estimate the last sales price), liens, and other encumbrances (easements, etc.) or agreements, which can give you a picture of the sellers position (and ability to negotiate on or) in a property, as well as issues that might be detrimental or beneficial to your intended use.Once we have this info, if we're still interested, we'll call our agent(s) and ask them to make an appt. to see the property AND pull comps from the last six-twelve months, unless we know the area VERY well.I know this may seem intimidating when you're starting out, but we can do everything stated above in less than an hour and,... we like going into properties knowing (as much as or) more than anyone else.

(that'll obviously impact what strategies are available to you)There really is no one size fits all.

That detail would have an impact on the viability of your investment.  

In my area , storm water management , school impact fees , reforestation , nitrogen reducing septic systems ( $ 20K ) . 

Land becomes more scarce and the local county or city usually votes to improve density per acre which encourages redevelopment along with reductions of impact fees charged.Basically you need to look at the dirt these properties are sitting on.

But, if I were to sell that home within the 2 years, the taxes I would have to pay would have too much of a negative impact on profit?

I am aiming to avoid funds, I have a high enough exposure through my Superannuation Fund, which rode through the GFC better than most, but I have little control and I want to be an educated investor.Ricky, I think your impact is around the wrong way. 

Then there are some crappy streets right next to good ones, horrible neighbors, new changes taking place, and other things that can affect the value of the house that Zillow might not know about.Just as an example, we renovated a house and a commercial building was going up behind ours and this had a bigger impact than we would have thought on the sales price when we went to sell.