The most useful resource for me is looking at other professionally done houses.  

So my question is geared to the real estate professionals and I'm interested in finding out, what is the best way to find an agent that will help me find a beach rental property while being considerate of their time knowing this process could take months?

. - little tip: you can look for ran down properties at the same time.Talk to any real estate professional you can!

Otherwise, go above board and find a good, professional management company to run things. 

Neighborhood demographic: will you be renting to students around a university (generally higher rents but more turnover), young professionals, or families?

check out the books athttp://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/04/14...good luck in your RE journey! 

Hi Kate,As usual, to give actual, real professional advice on your floor choice, a bit more info is needed. 

I foresee it becoming a hotbed for medical professionals and chapel hill residents migrating there for the tax benefits and roi on selling their chapel hill homes and moving there....

We are professional property managers, we have a long successful history of buy and hold investing, we have great credit and sufficient income.

I am relatively new to the world of real estate investing and I am currently in the research phase of my journey.