Do you think talking with realtors over the phone, along with public officials and reading reports on the area's crime / school systems would suffice for enough research? 

I know what equity is but how do I know how much equity is in the property from public records?

You will want to have public utilities billed directly to the tenants if you can.  

I will also post in the forum but feel that some of this is too sensitive of a topic to be broadcast to the public.

We need more publicity for landlords that are providing quality products.

The House price growth rate in Hong Kong would probably make Canadians feel differently about their plight as apparently 30 percent of the population in Hong Kong lives in public housing:  http://www.citylab.com/housing/2015/02/inside-hong-kongs-public-housing-estates/384726/ ;

Also, tax collector web site or public records.

Is or are the roads leading to the land public or private.

I have been using the public records to look at houses in my neighborhood, to get an idea of prices and get comfortable analyzing properties.  

@Mike Nelson  When I lived and owned rentals in Chicago, the Chicago Reader was the go-to publication for rentals in the city.