I'd look at population growth and job growth next.Cash flow is not only a function of the rent and purchase price, but also that of your loan value. 

Just remember, returns are a function of risk and effort, so don’t fall into the trap of buying low cost assets with the promise of high yields.

However, if you elect to own the real estate in your personal name, creating a separate LLC to perform property management functions and to collect rent provides absolutely no added protections.

If your only goal is just to find more deals, then Loopnet serves the same function but for free.

I believe most homeowners policies assume you have a functional buildings which you may not, that is where the vacant building insurance comes in.

For the property management functions there's resources for screening the tenant that's easily accessible from the home page.

@Manuel Mungaray you can reply to the discussion at the bottom of the screen instead of using the quoting function: 

Also, it has to function as its own entity separate from you.

While it would impact some business plans more than others,  its probably possible to function with 5-10% a year rent increases allowed and vacancy decontrol,   but if we get the more extreme variety like what the far left wants  (inflation or less for increases,   no vacancy decontrol,  etc)  it will be bad.    

In other words be your functional liability insurance carrier for everything you do without exception and no exclusions?