Everything around the lot is older but the neighborhood is less than 5 minutes away from downtown, hospital and colleges. see this all the time in and around downtown columbus OH, we have frindge areas that are getting rehabbed and flipped like crazy and then the new builds come in. 

When I was in college, my landlord would just walk into the house uninvited without even knocking.

I was out of college (just earned my degree in Culinary Arts) and was constantly running out of money.

I took two business law courses in college. 

Thanks, Tiffany Palaskas  In my experience, one of my biggest regrets were selling a great cash flowing property in a college community.

There are a lot of websites that offer the course online, or if you have a college near you, they also typically offer a class that satisfies the pre-licensing requirement.

Areas near downtown Ventura or the college (Ventura College) are worth exploring for strong tenant demand.

Also I do plan to live in Las Cruces after college.

Research ways to use your education to help you qualify for a loan (did you know that some lenders allow college credits that translate directly to the line of work the graduate pursues to count towards work experience, accelerating the borrower's opportunity to get approved for a mortgage?). 

If I was looking in PG County, I think Hyattsville and College Park would be my main targets.