What I was good at was running a business, I started my own at the very young age of 19, and what I did have was the desire and determination to succeed at my new goal at that time - real estate.Start small and flip a house.

Are the dependents over the age of 18?

- In terms of market due diligence, what is an optimal target population, what percentage of such demographic should be 50+(or if that needs to be of higher age), and what about net worth/income?

In my local area, most properties are being bid up well over asking price so if you try to offer at or below asking, the selling agent will ignore your offer.A final note, you can also filter deals by the age (Days on Market - all the way to the right side) and find stuff that has been sitting there.  

Of course roofing and year of ac unit matters, but do investors really focus on the age of the house?

The lot came with a mobile home not considered to have any value do to its age (40 yrs).

The lot came with a mobile home not considered to have any value do to its age (40 yrs).

That's a span of time you can't even fathom at your age.2)  BUILD a SOLID FINANCIAL FOUNDATIONGet your credit score to >700 (there's a ton of info on how to build your credit anywhere on BP or Google)Obtain or continue earning W-2 income (this becomes important when you want to obtain a mortgage down the line)Pay down any bad (consumer) debt and don't pile on any additional bad debt.Start saving.

If you are 'researching' just call up the apartment leasing people, say you are a parent of a student interested in a place...if they say sorry age limit, against their policies...then you know they are not your competition.

Certain age?