So my suggestion would be to speak to agents who have lived in the city ,do a lot of business in the city ,that frequent the city ,that have property in the city ,they can give you a better perspective

The more frequently you look for deals the more and better ones you will find.

They also frequently drop out and move-out in the middle of the night.

Also you run the risk of past clients still frequenting the property whether satisfied or dis-satisfied.p.s. this is only my opinion...you will still need to do some research.good luck to you

If not, the goal is that my marketing efforts will be bringing me leads like this one on a fairly regular basis (even if not as frequent as I'd like right now)

Others are irregular, but frequent - routine maintenance, snow removal, mowing.If you're looking at a 24 unit apartment building, 50% of rent is a pretty widely used number.

I am also in the military and move frequently as well and I have found it useful to know the market first and areas of interest or to avoid before investing in a rental and not the other way around.

Perhaps those lenders don't work with investors frequently.  

They knew I was 100% involved in the property, and unless I'm a loser will keep it better than a remote landlord who never sees it or is too far to make frequent visits.If you plan to only use property management, then it may be better to no occupy.

Even in areas of the country where they are supposed to be close to market value, they aren't updated frequently enough and don't take into account any condition issues or recent upgrades.