I've asked a number of the major consultants and research people whether such evidence exists, and they all say, 'no!'"

I feel the time is good since theirs fear and people are hesitant because of rates not dropping, thus giving me a opportunity to make this move. 

Hybrid's make as much sense as your post does to most people

The best deals that I find are in my backyard and coming from people that I know and they know that I do flips, want remodels, etc.

I would suggest talking to other people flipping properties in the area and ask them for recommendations on investor friendly contractors. 

The Closing Disclosure fees cannot be higher than an initial Loan Estimate, otherwise this will trigger a cost to cure and the lender must take the hit. 

Assume a 10 minute shower by two people every day.

My main goals are to find properties that offer good cash flow (preferably hitting the 1% rule) and have stable growth in property value.I've been considering a few cities and would love your input on them.

Personally, I would start hitting the education piece of real estate investing hard.

Both construction and eventual casino I would imagine bring more people to the area.