Imagine doing this exercise for a property that has appreciated over $6.8k/month over the hold period (our best appreciating property).The plan starts with determining whether you can somehow get financing with a high LTV loan and that you can come up with the required down. 

Sure, you can find skip traces out there that are 4 cents per record but you end up getting bad data or 9+ numbers that you have to sift through to determine if they're the right person or not; often times the phone number/contact will be information that was correct years ago.

I understand the need to interview several lenders to find the one that fits, but how does a first time investor determine this?  

The $123/SF is based on what the county will allow me to use to based my estimate to determine if I will be above or below the 30k, based on some data they have available.

Before you go spending money to join a club whose value you cant determine, how about you start hitting some of your local REIA clubs and meetups? 

You also have to pay for the extras (internet, cable, utilities) as well as furniture, dishes and linens.

How do lenders determine interest rates?

Price is determined by the market, assessed value is by the locality.

How do you all determine which market you want to invest in?

also, how do you all determine which markets you want to invest in?