Also, if property prices are not rising at or above the rate of inflation, rents are effectively declining.Population size - I would focus on cities with a population of 1M or more.

My city Grand Forks ND has a large college population and from what I gathered from my coworkers shared housing booms in mid to late summer when students are getting housing for the school year lined up.

Population growth?

New businesses opening, Population growth, job growth, gentrification, lots of new construction and properties selling, renting and leasing quickly.

Current new build numbers aren’t even where they were in the late 90’s and that drop in building is clearly starting to show up as an issue as our population growth didn’t stop during that time.

Current new build numbers aren’t even where they were in the late 90’s and that drop in building is clearly starting to show up as an issue as our population growth didn’t stop during that time.

If you miss getting it rented come August.... it can possibly sit rented for at least half the school year if not the entire school year as students are only shopping for a place to live at the beginning of the semester.2) While it may seem far fetched now to think student rental supply will far exceed demand, colleges across the country are seeing stagnant population and decreasing applications. 

Population growth, median household income growth, median home price value growth, job growth, crime stats, and tenant turnover rate. 

Rapid job growth and an increasing population.

Buying at a 9% cap and financing the purchase with 5%-6% debt still leaves you with a healthy spread which should result in a decent return.As next steps, I recommend asking the broker about the items above, obtain a rent roll and income statement for the past 1-2 years, and visit Best Places to review the population size, avg apartment rent, median home price, and unemployment rate in the metro area.