To find out if a place has these laws, talk to local property managers.The metro areas that remain are the ones to investigate further.Operating Cost ComparisonSince you mentioned Texas, I compared property taxes and insurance costs in Texas and two other no-income tax states.

However, if your area does not have investment properties that fit your strategy, then investigate another market that does.  

I have found a few older homes built in the 70s while driving for dollars, and today just found something on the MLS built in 1936 that I may investigate.

I have investigated the buildings (in pretty good and turnkey shape) and the local rental market and it is not bad.

I'd investigate that angle first.If permits were issued, then it seems to me that the county gave the OK and maybe there was a variance granted.You can do some investigation on your own, but you'll probably need to get a savvy real estate lawyer involved at some point.

I also have been scheduling a walkthrough on their move out day, clearly stating that it is a preliminary walkthrough and that not all security deposit charges will/can be identified at that time.

Hi all and thanks in advance for your feedback.  What advice would you give a new investor looking to find out of state opportunities?  How would you go about narrowing down the country if your plan was to find a prop...

If you know that the 1% purchase: rent ratio is a good investment, then you can quickly evaluate a large number of homes to see which ones to investigate further.

My current status is I'm working w/ an architect on draft plans and will hopefully be going to a preliminary planning approval session soon.

I'm investigating the Cincinatti real estate market and would like to pay the city a visit in the next few weeks looking to build a network , to look at a few smaller multi-family properties and in general understand the city better than pure Internet search allows.I was wondering if perhaps a real estate agent from Cincinatti that's also reading this forum would be willing to help me out with learning about the market and looking at properties.