Forgive me in advance as I'd imagine this question has been asked and answered before, couldn't find it myself.What is the best website for researching cities, neighborhoods, average income, crime stats, average rents, etc. 

@Fran RiveraFor taxes rates, your city and county websites should have the info.  

Code exception from city?) 

Specifically in any of these cities ...

The remaining half has an unnecessary (per existing city code, though they are considering changing that) parking lot and two very old residential units.

I always suggest young individuals who want to get into it , have to live in the city, and only have the cap to put 3-5% down, to buy a condo or even better single family house and rent out the rooms to friends or even potentially AirBnB, if you have the single family house.  

I would talk to an experienced city building inspector to see if he is aware of any problems. 

Last time I checked (which was a while ago), the city wanted off street parking to allow the switch.All good advice above.

I I am looking a general contractor to remodel my basement adding a kitchen, washer and Dryer hook ups and add a walk out door so I can rent out my basement. Any recommendations would be great.

Hi BiggerPockets,We also hear about the hot cash flow markets such as Memphis and cities in Ohio.