Tools available to choose location

[Deborah M.]

Hi there! This will be my first time purchasing a rental property. I live in upstate NY where there are several towns close to each other that exhibit great potential for an investment. This cluster of towns seem viable because of a high concentration of colleges, state offices, quality public schools and a strong economic base. The issue I am having is narrowing it down. I've looked at the demographics for statistics such as income, population age, resale, new development, taxes, economic growth potential and with a few variances which appear to be associated with the size of each area, they seem fairly similar. What I can't seem to determine is the rental potential as in will I be able to keep it consistently occupied in one area as opposed to the other. This is important because I want to buy and hold a two family. Our son would rent one and a tenant would rent the other. I'm wondering if there is a tool that I've missed to shed more light on that particular area. I've looked at Zillow, Trulia, Craigslist, and the census. I've spoken to a couple of property management companies but they all claim that vacancy hasn't been an issue. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!