So you can either do what @James Lanier said and hold in an area that you have data that shows you it will remain solid for years to come or you find the neighborhood behind that one you were talking about and nab some holds early in the neighborhood transition cycle so you get more appreciation on the back end.

Find a realtor with access to data (If you don't really plan and your just doing research make sure you make some kind of arrangement that compensates the realtor for their time) What kind of data do you need:What's the cost to acquire a propertyWhat're the rules for determining the AS-IS or After Repair Value for a property in that specific rural community.

(I'm a very data driven person so if you have statistical support that would also be awesome!)

You can typically re-fi after 6 months but you will have to show significant appreciation in value in order to cash out your investor, assuming you borrow the full down payment for purchasing. 

I feel like there is a lot missing, honestly.Why can’t it automatically pull in so much of the data that’s available out there for us, when we enter a property‘a address or MLS?

Learn how to find the data you need, rent trends, market rents, vacancy rates, population growth, job growth, etc. 

Seems to me the best way would be to buy as much data as I can,  throw it in a power dialer and blast through it. what's the best bang for my buck?

I just go from data.

It is not the scribbles and doodles you draw on the mailer.If that were the case you would be able to do data collection and it would have shown that 80% of pink letters do better.. and that every single person then sending pink letters would get better results.If that were the case there wouldn't be any yellow postcards right?

I really enjoyed Dave Meyers post here https://www.biggerpockets.com/... as a data guy trained in biological statistics I am much more data driven.