My name is Jacob and I'm brand new to REI but I have a background in sales and marketing; I used to work for a company that provided internet advertising and websites to realtors. 

Ideally, I would want my first rental to be fully rehabbed.  

The internet changed the game.

Ironically I am well versed in computers and have been a long time internet user, I do have to admit I haven't used forums that much.

Ideally you could create a pool to begin with (maybe even just use the existing pool of tenants) and compare against that for each new vacancy, rather than comparing against the new sample.Also...it is probably too complicated for most people to actually emulate. 

@John O'Keeffe Welcome to the community sir.Quite honestly, you have already found THE BEST source of information right here on BP.Sure, there are other sits and Youtube channels that offer some education, BUT by far BP has the most densely pack information in all of the internets ( 'Murica)Good luck!

Ideally, you'll want to negotiate all the salient terms of an agreement via informal communication and letters of intent, then bring your attorney in to draft the documentation. 

The internet is not where folks should be getting their legal advice. :) 

BUT before you do, here's a good question for you to answer: IS YOUR MARKET AN IDEAL FLIPPING MARKET?

With the internet you pretty much have full acsess to the MLS.