This is my first rental so I'm stuck trying to find a place that I can afford, but also be in an area where there is a possibility to have decent tenants and hopefully some long term growth.  

Also, how can you strereo type me and my ability to construct a deal simply because it’s my first REI deal.

Last year, Kenosha was named one of the top 15 fastest growing metros for job growth, and our property will be only a few short miles from the new Foxconn facility that will create 14,000+ jobs once complete in the next couple years.

What should I be looking for (i.e. ability for tenants to pay online, online maintenance requests, how soon are rents paid to owners, etc...)?

I think that the population growth of the city means that there are more renters looking for a place to live near center city every single day (quicker than houses are being built/ rehabbed and put up for rent).

One is a college town, prices are higher, but better quality buildings overall I'd say, and slightly higher rent prospects, but I'm not sure how to handle the college side of it (as that is the majority of renters).The other is a town with little growth not a ton of job options locally, the class of buildings aren't as attractive overall, but the market seems a bit better for starting out price wise for multi family/commerical type scenarios, but I'm concerned about the type of tenants I'd attract with lower value buildings.

This year all of DFW has only seen about 1% growth in rent increase.   

but its an advanced strategy for those with capacity.. its not a good strategy ( especially for a seller) to do this with folks with limited capital.. and no ability to write a check. 

Only after making sure of that, a good deal for us will have to have the ability to hit our target Cash-on-Cash returns (In today’s market minimum 7-8% year one, and 8-10% yearly avg over the holding period). 

Rising interest rates,  no growth in rents, higher expenses,  all meant the property appraised less.