Market research tools

I know that it is very important to find a good area to invest in, in fact I know form visiting here that it is the first thing you should be looking at when looking for a deal so my question is, what good sources of information should I be using to assess the areas?  I have found out what I should be looking for, things like time of properties on the market and what infrastructure is going into an area, population growth, supply and demand etc etc but apart from Google I don't know what to use.  I'm not too happy at this time to be parting with cash for the information because I suspect that with my inexperience I would find my money going into the hands of a shark who preys on people like me.

 I don't think I will be investing for at least a year but I would like to be very well prepared in the mean time.  The reason it will be a year until I invest is that I will be buying a property of my own first in my current hometown of Mandurah in WA.  It would be nice to be able to research that area as a possible contender for my investment though as I know the area a little and far better than anywhere else in Australia.  It would be good to be able to reduce my costs by being able to service the property myself too rather than having to pay a contractor in Queensland for example just because its a good area.  

Knowing my area and with my inexperience I would say that Mandurah has a good potential to be a good area to invest in.  There was a recent new extension to the train line, a new link road to take the area to the fresh new freeway and the towns between Mandurah and Perth are having money spent on them so you can see the investment in the area.  New stations are going in etc etc etc..  these are my theories so what can I use to prove those theories.  Help me to get good at my research.

I am also put off buying in an area I cant see because of my own current situation.  I am in a rental and we have been speaking with the owner who has been told so many lies by her agent that she has now decided to sell the property and leave the investment game altogether.  Work that has been carried out by contractors has been to a shoddy standard and has not been checked by the agent, leaving my wife and I in a frame of mind that we don't want to rent the property because it is a constant headache, battling to get the repairs done and being either lied to by the owner or the agent, both are saying that the other is at fault in getting the repairs taken place.  My landlord lives in Sydney I think so cant readily rectify the problems I think she would like to by checking what she is getting for her money.

Anyway if you can give any tips for myself and others reading this that would be great.

Thanks in advance