The demographics are also very similar.

.- closer to your current location which is needed to manage any project; flipping requires a presence - better demographics (e.g. higher number of income earners)There is a fellow BP member who is fairly active and he does a lot of flips.  

I wish there was a tool which can look into age/condition of the house, locality, demographics etc. and predict all the cost components such as vacancy, maintenance with a high confidence.

Where can I easily get the following information: immediate area demographics, traffic counts?

This is especially true in a market that has a shifting demo graphic like Oakland. 

More on this later.Las Vegas Tenant SegmentsIn 2005, when I moved to Las Vegas to establish my investor services business, I spent months studying tenant pool demographics.

If you use the furnishedfinder website they have tools to see what apartments and rooms are renting for in your area, plus the leases are only 3 months on average, and the tenants are typically a lower risk demographic. 

IMO, the best areas to invest has demographics that you're familiar and comfortable with. 

Dollar for dollar it's not a comparison but the statistics and demographic data should be similar.

I look at all those costs too, but there are certain ones that I think are actually higher on the less expensive home, assuming the neighborhood/demographic of tenant is also less desirable.