Finding an area to invest

[James Brunetto, jr]

When you are thinking of whether or not to invest in an area are you only really concerned about cash flow for a rental/buy and hold property? For flips, are you mainly concerned about cost, cost to renovate, and resale price? 

Do you look at other metrics or items when considering an area? Trying to figure out if I am looking at too many metrics (like population growth, median income, schools, crime rate, etc.)