It is probably because the data is not available.

I believe all of us as a BiggerPockets family will achieve our Real Estate goals including yourself.

My other strategy, which seems way too unwieldy and unfocused, has been to open Google Maps, and pick random cities that I have either heard of, or are adjacent to population centers or natural attractions (mountains, lakes, parks etc), and start looking at Zillow and comparing historical data for the props I see listed to try to gauge where we might be on the bell curve of appreciation.

What do you want to achieve long-term with real estate?

I provide my customers with data/comps tailored to potential properties they are looking to purchase but I wanted to see if there is anything else you look for?

If you don't have access to a broker just yet then Reonomy is the next best thing. it does cost around $500/mo least i checked and you can only download 500 leads per month but the data is rich and accurate and you can get super granular on what asset type you're looking for.

We also achieved a $250 increase in rent, which the property just rented this week! 

@Sokhna Wade This is the deal analysis spreadsheet; I've tweaked it to make it work for me:https://bit.ly/3EAhMm8Complete all of the Purple Boxes with your property's data and it will crunch the numbers.

I will note, I'm not asking for any hand outs but I am willing to put in the effort and grind it out, if it means I can achieve my goals in the long run.

Generally, the Bigger Pockets calculator can serve as a starting point for all the data points and metrics you want to be familiar with.