The factors that add to strong appreciation also benefit liquidity.  

There are so many other factors that impact the final price that the square footage of the property is dwarfed by them - beds, baths, age, style, condition, acreage, garage, basement, HVAC, etc, etc, etc.

Know 2 key risk factors before they even get the property address.How much did they smoke? 

As @Greg Scott and @John Primm mentioned, job growth, population trends, metrics like these can be helpful factors when considering appreciation.

Also, the rents are below market which banks don't like as the rental revenue is of course factored in. 

I like cash flow and don't factor in appreciation as it's minimal in my market, plus I buy-and-hold so appreciation is not a factor for me (and I'm less likely to be reassessed if it's low, which is cool). 

The very most-important factor you have to consider before investing in real estate, the stock market, entering into a partnership, or starting a business is you need to be able to understand and calculate the risks because every type of investment has inherent risks and it is the risks that cause you to lose some or all of your money.Not many people who invest in real estate lose money, but some do.

Being a first time investor, I don't have a track record so hard money is pretty expensive, which also gets factored into purchase costs and makes finding a deal in this market all that much more difficult. 

The goal would be to also rent out an onsite external apartment which is currently on the property.

She was pretty confident that most appraisers will only use flood plain comps--that is, factor the flood plain at all--if half the town, and most available comps, are also flood plain (makes no-duh sense w comp-method of appraisal, now that I think of it).