However, a savvy real estate investor or agent familiar with your area can show you some trends in your immediate context that will show you who your competition is, and appraisals are really a team sport. 

Yeah, in OR you can't make a contract chained to a listing like that, but they do have ways around that like a "termination fee" which will get credited back if you use them to list.I'd also ask if they can do a summary on income and expenses and trends - Like is the avg rent up the past two years, what's happening with water costs, etc in graphical (ex-eng, sorry) format.Other item happening more is what happens to your data? 

If you have done your homework, the area is rapidly improving, property is appreciating, crime is trending down, and arts/brewery scenes are growing, I’d personally lean in.

I live in Elmhurst and also own a local moving company (Two Men And A Truck) so I talk to a lot of people about why they are moving and the trend seems to be that they are priced out of the more expensive surrounding areas and so they are moving to Lombard and Villa Park.

Has anyone ever used moving trends to assist in determining which markets to invest in?

I wrote up a summary a few months ago, and the trends are even stronger now - you won't find cash flow unless you find something miraculous off-market. 

Has anyone else noticed a return to young person fashion trends borrowed directly from the 1970s and 1980s? 

If OOS investing is trending up in Wichita, then I think this is an exciting time to own some real estate and hold for appreciation.

If so, the population trends are heading in a favorable direction; it could be a larger play to bring rents up on a mass scale and improve the value of all their property (**shrugging**)

Kinda like how college GPAs are all trending to 4.0 or schools giving out participation trophies.I'm sure there's certain percentage (esp if they're still using the same person for a while) that are happy.However, my question is if someone stands to gain remuneration from promoting a service.