Again, talk to the locals—cops, hotel personnel, and restaurant employees—to obtain the inside scoop about the neighborhood.Real estate investing necessitates rigorous attention to detail, which is why property tours are essential for acquiring critical information.

So, try some local real estate meetup groups.

The stream bed in question is small/ephermeral, and the properties haven't flood in 12 years, even when the local area has seen some massive flooding in the last decade.  

My local Craigslist is saturated with their ads in the housing section.

I would recommend staying in Findlay, Ohio for a while as your cost of entry is going to be much lower and you are local to the area.

This sounds like a deal for a local commercial bank.

You can try this site to find a local mortgage broker:https://mortgagematchup.com/ 

My broker's property management company is local to the area and very familiar and comfortable with this product type if you want hands off management.

I recommend finding a great local lender and building a relationship with them, then getting your info directly from them rather than articles and videos.  

I would love to connect with local wholesalers who source in Birmingham and other cities in Alabama.