Others change their strategy and/or asset class or geographic focus in response to economic indicators. 

My first question - does anyone have any mobile apps/tools that they use to follow macroeconomic trends and indicators (both RE and non RE indicators)?

The actual individual who makes the decision on what to invest in..Referrals are appreciated

@Susan, congratulations on your new venture.You indicated that you are new at REI and never done a new construction from ground up... then here are my honest suggestions.  

Florida prices are much higher than in places like middle-America and I'm not (yet) a high-income individual.

When I was closing on my first property all the numbers indicated that it would be $2,300 cash flow positive per month after PITI and management. 11 months later, and I FINALLY cash flowed on the property!

To indicate an investor can find a better ROI on average in the Midwest is simply misleading for they have not (you can run the numbers - the numbers do not lie (pick from the years indicated and take the best Midwest locale and run the numbers against the worst of the 3 CA cities listed). 

Individual investors?

It indicates to me that the applicant has a history of making late payments or stiffing a creditor.If the property is not generating a lot of applications, I would definitely have the applicant address the 600 credit score, review credit reports to what has been going on and see if there has been any improvement in payment pattern.

We would have to send individual bills to each tenant after we calculate the cost from the bill (dollar per kw).