I would find local credit unions or small banks, essentially portfolio lenders who hold the loans in house.

Join your local REI groups. 

Any current roadblocks including time-to rehab permits being issued, local landlord laws/trends, property tax to rent YoY trends, etc. 

As are cellular towers, fiber, the internet, the local gas station, vape shop, computer monitors, keyboards, search engines, and just about everything else you can imagine.  

It wasn't speculation, mind you, just good old-fashioned local market knowledge and education on the strong underlying fundamentals (jobs, population growth, desirability, affordability). 2. 

I also organize our local meetup in Dothan.

If I hire a plumber and make them pay, will they know what caused the clog?

Get a plumber to fix it, will be cheaper.

Local governments haven't a clue as to the dramatic shift in the business they caused and ultimately higher rents and tighter standards they created. 

There not reality, go to your local RE meetup You will learn more in a few days then months and months of reading.