You forgot to mention that, the most important factor

It is a factor to protect your self by a lawsuit or a failure of your business.  

I would factor in other expenses as well such as water, landscaping, maintenance, vacancy, and capex.

Do you only care about the interest rate or are other factors like being able to bid online, how noticing is handled, are lawyers needed, the ease of foreclosing, the time before you can begin foreclosure etc etc all need to be asked. 

In addition, our properties are going to be made "purpose-built," a finished product thats specifically designed to attract today's college students with amenities that appeal to that demographic.

i have to schedule a visit cos i honestly cant even estimate the repair cost (which i must factor into my offer) before i can even make an offer. i will have my agent make that appointment happen.

@Rahul Dilawri Welcome to BP....you will find this very useful and helpful...With regard to your question I will agree with @Reginald Pintang and @Dhru Das.Definition of 'good area for investment' is very subjective because it can be defined based on multiple factors such as Cash Flow, ROI (for fix and flip), appreciation rate, safety/crime rate etc.Of course it largely depends on your long term goals.

The most important macro level factors that I consider are 1.

My name is Cyrus and I have experienced in project management in interior design and home remodeling industry but not in US.

Thanks Cerwin, I'll certainly take those factors into consideration.