The properties I used to have 10 years ago were poorly rehabbed and it yielded a constant source of headaches that created a hole in my checkbook that dripped thousands of dollars a month in repairs.

I tell the agents in the email I am looking for local listings, not ones off the sources I have access too and search anyway.

Also, Verify your rental amount to be safe with rentometer.com or some other similar source.  

The area must have a median school rating of 5 or above from at least 2 reliable school rating sources.

An understanding of how to structure the deal to maximize a source of low-cost financing like debt, EB-5 loans, etc.  4.  

You're realtor is obviously not licensed in DC and his research comes from magazine tabloids from the grocery store because that is the only source I could imagine would offer that bunk.

http://www.meetup.com/AtlantaREIA/  This is a good source to find many of the REIA events as mentioned above.  

Are goal is to have the houses cash flow and a source of income when my husband can retire in 15 years.

My advice is to use Legal Zoom for 29.99 to select from a source of attorneys and tax professionals.  

Neighbors are the best source of information - & the smaller the town, the more they know!