Treat local deals like long-distance and employ/trust your team more, maybe? 

If you are legally employed by a broker or owner though, you may perform very limited functions like showing a property for rent or handing out and collecting rental applications.

She pointed out the many large employers in the Seattle area, and the relative housing shortage.  

Bookkeeping is normally a low-level task and you may find yourself better suited growing your business instead of doing back end items.3) If you have determined one business is more successful than the other, You may want to employ capital to increase your presence in that business.

I'm in the process of starting a real estate company for Buy and Holding investment properties and wanted to know, how exactly do you spot employment trends marketing trends etc. which in tern would allow you to make better decisions when it comes to purchasing the right property in the right location. 

It is at a cost of $40 per adult tenant.For Tenant, if they are interested in signing a lease:1.Fill out preliminary hard copy application.2.Verify application for 3 times monthly rent income (call employer), pay stubs, no felony, no evictions, at least 1 year on job.3.Query in State Courts Online system.4.Query Facebook, searching for anything “negative”. 5.Query County Assessor website that they live in, looking for homes owned/foreclsoures in process. 6.Contact prior landlords (last two if possible).7.If applicant passes preliminary screening, send online application ($40 fee) via website MySmartMove.com.8.Review screening for 600+ credit score (B class property), on time payments, debt to income, eviction and criminal history.For Prior Landlord(s):1.How long were they tenants at address?

He is now employed for the past 2 months and expects a good paycheck.

Are there demand drivers now, like great schools, great employers, growing university?

If you're going to hold long-term, I would look at things like population growth, employment growth, wage growth, demographic changes, taxes (both as property owner and for working tenants), public investment, are there private investors and what are they doing, etc.

As such, you probably don't need a Realtor, however, I would highly recommend you employ the services of a real estate attorney.