So write down money to start and your goals and returns wanted and time you have to handle your investment and that will narrow down what you invest in (at this time).

Leverage narrows your ability to react during a crisis.

You can use the 50% estimate to scroll through properties faster while you shop, but as soon as you narrow down your selection, go with the actual numbers. 

It might be helpful if you narrow your search to a few particular markets to start with and reach out to the brokers in those areas.

But this is pretty consistent with ~80% of lenders all being in a narrow band of being pretty freaking close in terms of rate these days once each loan offer is structured identically (back in 2006 it might be 0.5% or 1% difference in rate between lenders, not the 0.125% to 0.25% in variance we see today), meaning it comes down to knowledge, communication, responsiveness, etc.So the answer to "Is it worth paying more for a bank that actually communicates?"

Once you narrowed your search to 2-3 provider firms you should schedule a call to discuss your situation directly, ask questions or otherwise interview the potential service provider.

Excellent advice from Patrick B ,you're question is too broad, you need to narrow down to block and streetTo get a better opinion but in general around the CM is revitalizing pretty quickly, up around BT is high end .East of i65 is still kinda scary (imo) but prices are moving up there really fast also so...I got a house close to CM and am pretty happy but it's early days yet.

These two people will get everything T'd up and narrow the gap as much as possible so that when you are ready to pull the trigger here, the ground work is laid out.

You'll at least be left with a narrow(er) group of options.  

Make sure you talk to someone that can give you a good idea of what the local neighborhoods are like.My 2-cents, narrow your search to just a couple of markets, connect to folks that could become your team on the ground first and then start looking for properties.