Personally, I’d look for an area that is growing, has some good solid neighborhoods, has industry or is a bedroom community close to jobs, and has amenities such as groceries, restaurants, shopping and such nearby.

BE THELEADER IN YOUR MARKETWITH LOCALIZED MARKETING INSIGHTS FROM THE TOP PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANIESHow Do You Stack Up to Other Multi-Family Industry Leaders?

I'd love to hear more specifics from you...Investing in the stock market exclusively leaves too much downside potential. 

@Jesse Stein @Allen McGlashing you guys should be setting your standards much higher...even top producing investment real estate agents should be responding quickly (within 1-2 hours)...and you should have a system setup for offers...they should go out within an hour or two of your request.Stop working with agents that work at big brokerages like Keller Williams or HER...I know there is a bunch of these good ol' boy brokerages out there, but they are tools of the residential industry...not investment specialist for local markets...find a small local firm and start interviewing agents

If you own a 3 million dollar trucking company and just wanna buy a couple rentals...likely a trucking industry focused CPA would be your go-to. 

One of the main results of these types of government actions is consolidation in the industry and the further winnowing away of mom and pop landlords.

@Mimi Rose StewartGroup meet ups, industry events, morning coffees, lunches, etc can provide different settings and opportunities to meet and vet potential partners. 

In addition, there are a lot of large commercial construction projects underway right now in Tampa which is pushing the construction industry to beyond its limits and its really hard to get projects finished.

I put together my team almost exclusively from networking and information I learned on these forums.

I'm not the best person to ask as we work off the MLS almost exclusively.