I am co-owner of a company that provides EMD Lending services to wholesalers. 

A few questions:Did Zillow provide any reasoning for blocking?

There is a university nearby (within 0.4 mi)Any guidance you can provide?

Will trade golf lessons for mentoring 😁 @Joshua Ostler As a professional golfer, your background may provide you with an advantage over other investors.

We review a multitude of data sources to provide a real-time view into a real estate marketWhile a data-driven approach is useful to narrow down all the options, having boots on the ground (i.e. agent or contractor) is always important for due diligence

I suggest reading about David Green's core-4. https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/core-four-real-estate-teamYou can build a solid team if you start by finding an investment focused realtor who sources deals and has a large network to provide you with. 

Still, the bill still doesn’t allow landlords “to refuse to rent to a tenant solely because of prior evictions or alleged damages” or “solely because of prior convictions or arrests” without “reference to additional information provided.” ... 

If you provide us with some details we might be able to better help, what did the last one look like?

We always provide the applicant with a list of required qualifications: income/rent %, credit score, evictions, etc. 

Obtaining competent management was an issue, I have no confidence in the service personal in the local area.