Buy & Hold Property Analysis

[Cody Barrett]

Hello everyone!  Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

Alright, what I am looking to do is buy and hold properties for cash flow purposes.  I am curious to learn about how investors crunch their numbers to determine if the property is a solid investment.  Things like local renter density, vacancy rate, rent estimate, etc..  There are a lot of things to consider of course but generally speaking, do you guys use software from websites like zilpy.com or do you just make some phone calls, gather data, and put it all together to get your stats?  

I don't plan on making a purchase for a while as I am saving for a nice down payment but just learning the ropes.  Thanks again!