The federal government has approved part of South Lake Tahoe as being in an Opportunity Zone.

Get stats from the city government site about job growth, local economy, etc. 2) Visit the Area -- Don't just buy something off loopnet because the numbers look good when you've never visited the area.

I think the biggest risk of this type of transaction is that you aren't able to see the interior until after all of the slow government paperwork is settled. 

There are so many apartments constructed or under construction I'm not sure how they could ever find enough renters without turning to section 8 or some other government program.

In fact, that's how the government thinks about it.

They have longstanding links to the local fire department, police, and municipal government.

I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing anything obvious as I’m new at this and have never dealt with that sector before.

Your best bet would be to contact the governing authorities directly in the geographic market you are interesting in purchasing your first property.  

BRB's books and electronic products point the way to over 28,000 government agencies, and 3,500 public record vendors who maintain, search or retrieve public records.For what I can see, at least for Florida, you can find property taxes information for all Florida counties.

There is the wild card of government intervention, which you pointed out.My point was that as a first investment, making an appreciation-only play is ill-advised.