My thought is that with the new Dollar General and PetSmart Distribution Centers, the Chicken factory in Fredericksburg, etc, that there should be people looking for housing in the area.  

That's a decision factor. I

I invest in SFHs and honestly, the main factor I consider is how much money I am going to make on the money I invest.

The rest of the information can be easily had by doing some crime searches, rental analysis, and by doing some simple sales searches.Regardless, we have a lot of good business coming to town what with ND being a recent advocate, the revitalization of downtown, the warehouses going up on the west side, and most recently an electric car company purchased the old AM Gen factory and has committed to building electric cars here.

2) Are any of the areas I mentioned better for inventory, GRM, ROI or any other factor I should consider.3) Which would be a better resource, a wholesaler or investor friendly broker?

Lexington is just a great market and Georgetown has a lot of industry including Toyota and a bunch of factories that make parts for toyota kinda setting Georgetown apart from other bedroom communities. 

The other X factor is repairs/rehab as Shane mentioned.I think it's a great idea to call the other owners.

(Defective from factory) got it replaced for the cost of $12 and no other issues.

I will add that the MOST important factor is that you have verbiage in your purchase contract (regardless of your exit strategy) that stipulates that seller must deliver clear title to buyer and provide an owners policy of title insurance.

We both ended up getting laid off, due to an RV/trailer factory closing up shop.