As a resident of the Tennessee area, I have the advantage of observing its growth firsthand.

Locally my observation is that the need is more for low income young and working vs college student.

Interesting observations.

I don't have such deep knowledge of Philly as this, but this outline certainly correlates with what I have observed.

In my observation here in Santa Rosa, the first lots out of the gate that sold went for too high of a price. 

The water fell 3 floors, when I observed the incident my neighbor was attempting the sweep water out the back door.   

But ...The first thing I observed was the replacement cost portion of the quote, was, IMO, less than what it will actually cost to demolish the remains of the existing structure, pay for any hazardous waste removal following a catastrophic loss, and actually pay to replace the property in the event of a total loss, even though I used the quote feature to increase the replacement cost value by 20% (the maximum it would allow).

If you do choose to invest out of state, the best advice I could give you based on what I have observed running a local real estate group here for over a decade is build your own team.

This is merely what I've observed from the content I 've seen online. 

My opinion, that most of these marketing company produces programs, whether we want to call then educational, mentorship, counsel, advice or whatever are CRAP, and possibly dangerous, is based on my experience, knowledge, and observation over a 45 + years real estate investing career.