If my goal were to retire at the new retirement age of 73, then I would probably hold and see what kind of appreciation it would get over the years. 

What is the age and condition?

(assuming we have savings for 6-12 months bills)Many, many, other questions; I’ll start there.We are in NC- we all make same salary (for now)- relatively same goals (for now)- Same age groupAny info would be helpful,Thank you,Chad 

Should I be considering percentage of absentee owners, days on market, vacancy rates, employment information, age demographics etc?

Next advice I will give is with your age and your situation you may have a great opportunity to rent rooms in the unit you live in to friends.

Go 30 yrs at your age instead of 15.

Only go out in distance/Age of sale if you don't have enough comps.

Plus I don't want the listing to age at all.  

I'm right around your age and admire what you've accomplished.

@Rita Bautistathanks for the tip and I hope to use that information down the road. for my first purchase I'm going to use a fha, low percentage for money down, it's targeted population is my age range and most realistic I feel for my initial dive into real estate investment.