I'm a licensed Realtor in Orange County, CA, and have been since 2003, however I've never really used my license for real estate sales - it was just a way for me to look at the MLS.  

@Ryan KeenanDepends on how landlord friendly your township/county is.

I called to the County to check on any building permit history and any rental inspections. 

In my area the county tax assessor breaks that down in the property records.

I got these numbers from realtor.com because the county assessor does not list these figures online. 

Look for the local Skagit County and Anacortes group here in BP, as I understand they meet regularly. 

Do you have a minimum median income level in the county or a certain poverty rate?

Jacksonville, as in downtown, or suburbs, or any of the four surrounding counties?

You can type in any city or even zipcode and it gives you all kinds of great info, household income, population, housing vacancy, housing stock age, mix of multifamily vs single family ect :https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtmlHUD produces occasional annual reports for most metros:https://www.huduser.gov/portal/ushmc/chma_archive.htmlThe Local County Website or city Municipal websites often have great research as well.Development is important in a growing metro because it shows you where people and business are moving.

What else should I be looking for in my county's public property records?