If I were interested in "historic employment data" that's what I would goggle.There are building starts, building permits, new home sales, real estate sales and real estate loans closed on a monthly and quarterly basis.All economic indicators, GNP, CPI etc can be justified as a watch list for real estate activities.

Often the permits are the triggering event, sometimes a sale is (in MKE propper), sometimes not (most others). 

Will the city consider the application for Conditional Use Permit if I am not yet the owner but under contract to purchase the site?

I did a spec'd out (had to get a permit) 22ft lvl beam to open up a basement on a 2 story.

Permitting data does indicate a slowdown of new constructions. 

My grandparents have a couple condos on Miramar Beach, I try to make it out once a year for some family time and vacation when work permits.

Delayed financing on 5-10 properties is permitted up to 70% LTV within 6 months of purchase.  

And if that happens, 4th amendment applies, and you can still get a retroactive permit, if you want, invoking the Fair Housing Act for disability. 

Just interested to hear your thoughts on that.As I was reading through this thread, that was my thought as well.Every market is going to be different in terms of what acquisition strategies are working, the types of houses that are prevalent, the types of buyers that are prevalent, the cost of labor and materials, etc.I don't know about you, but it typically takes me a couple months to really learn a market, and it can take me a couple of rehabs before I'm comfortable with the nuances of the houses in a new area, the details of the permitting/inspection process in a particular area and finding/vetting contractors.I couldn't imagine trying to teach a new investor in an area that I'm not familiar with unless I had spent many weeks/months on the ground getting the lay of the land (and I've rehabbed in about a half-dozen different parts of the country).

@Erin Bryant To be clear, there is a difference between your contractor's co. being "qualified" by a different license holder, verify that as mentioned above, as opposed to.....a different licensed contractor simply pulling the permits in their name instead of your contractor's name.