If you want to spend a few bucks, there are some excellent books that have been published by BiggerPockets. 

Depends on your strategy, but I had the thought that 1/1 duplexes would excel in STR sphere. 

@Kimberly Kesterke Great news!

Here it is...the year is 2007We are produce farmers FIL sells farm-we have basically zeroHusband under-educated /only job he ever had (46 yo)I took our lives into my own handsTraveled upstate (NY) Bought a house for cash WITHOUT TELLING HIM (425K)Ummmm-where the F am I getting that moneyWent to local mall with my 3 girls-called him from my flip phone to break the news- he fell silent BTWDrove back home (near NYC)Sold my house for 500k to a mansion owner close by (look up GLENMERE MANSION)Got my RE licenseFound my husband a job-he obvi couldn’t use a computer We are still in that houseWe’ve only lived in 2 houses I now buy houses regularly WITHOUT TELLING MY HUSBAND Because that sh*t is funny.

We have priced out a house that should appeal to a lot of buyers in this area that also matches very closely to an excellent new construction comparable sale within the last year.

The population looks low, but the percentage of renters is almost double the statewide average, so that's a good sign.As another check, I like to plug the neighborhood's name into Google News and see what kind of stories come up. 

Read the daily news paper for the local area.

1 -No...I don't seek leads2 - Yes...reverse engineering.3 - I designed my own set of software (it started out as just an Excel form, and grew...) based on how I invest. 

I can see why, who wants that news!?

Excellent advice already provided.