for many it is their net worth... you have vary schools of thought..

I am in the process of buying an SFR in what I would consider to be one of the best 2 or 3 areas in town - it’s an incorporated city with its own Blue Ribbon school system and this particular area has primo shopping and dining and is walkable to the schools.

Every year my tenants tells me they would leave due to kids school situation but staying put.

We are now looking for a deal, which is getting harder and harder to get in our area, considering that we want a low risk area with good schools and dissenting apreciation.

The main problem for the bank is that my base income is low-ish (I'm in a salary+commission job) and I dont have 2 yrs of history in this job for them to go on. 

Zillow seems to be a good resource for things like crime and school districts.

Meaning you need to understand the title, liens and history of the property as well as understanding the exact physical condition.

His girlfriend however is staying back in MT until she finishes school and then will be coming to Seattle soon.

I know people look at schools in the area and the rest of the neighborhood, but what other external criteria do you go off of to analyze the micro market?

I will give you a warning now that there is some high school level statistics referenced so you may want to refresh yourself.Monte Carlo SimulationsMonte Carlo simulations are a way of modeling forecasts when there are random/uncertain variables introduced that cannot be accounted for using a single value.