I'm asking because from a few hours of googling around, it seems like the numbers across website are wildly different (I've seen from ~5% to 10% for the same exact zipcode), and I'm wondering which ones the veterans trust?

So while I'm saving and searching for the right property to have as my first investment, I've been doing tons of research and began listening to the bigger pockets podcast which led me here.I currently manage the service end of a new car dealership, but am looking toward the future and some day retirement and want a way to secure financial freedom.

To get an initial feel for a market I recommend looking at:Population growthAverage Income growthProperty value growthRatio of property owners to rentersDemographicsLarge economic drivers (Hospitals, Army bases, Universities, other large employers)Street view on Google mapsYou can find all of this information with a Google search. 

I have an impression that labor in fortworth is not that expensive and general pricing over the google search came out way below the pricing my property manager charged me. e.g.

Google it in your area.They also have a monthly Deal Maker Session meeting where about 75 investors get together to buy and sell exclusive (non-MLS) properties every month.

Google Earth down to all the commercial shopping 1-6 block radius, look for boarded up windows, broken windows, Grafitti, types of cars, types of people, trash etc... if you see all of the above.

Let people search Morris Invest and make their judgement.

Be careful when using Google street view, quite often the pictures are quite old. 

I’d like to have him review a potential note deal.Im sure this has probably been posted before however I couldn’t find anything when searching the forums.Thanks for any input.

Do a quick forum search on something you want to learn more about, take a couple hours or days to do research, and then share what you've learned with others that have questions about the same thing.