Being a Lending and Real Estate Professional, I use several title insurance calculators online to come up with closing costs on Title since they are regulated state wide.

Make sure there's no kinks or leaks in the supply line.

Portland, Seattle, Charlotte, and Austin look to have good supply & demand fundamentals as well, though I'm not as familiar with those markets.

As for seller financed notes the good news is Dodd Frank is being deregulated and as for institutional notes it's a supply & demand equation with a big factor being jobs & economic growth, but there's always people defaulting due to job loss, divorce and medical.

SEC regulations apply to raising capital. 

Don't forget to check the local municipality for any building regulation offences, demo orders etc.

My choice is always to take tenants to small claims court but it depends on the regulations in your state.

@Dennis Nemitz The Phoenix market is healthy, supply and demand are not way out of balance.

Here in Kansas there are no regulations for a property management company.

There are a good number of regulations and rules you need to follow.