To the more county or even city level, I always like to look at the macroeconomic drivers like population growth/decline, economic growth/decline, what developments are or are not planned, general price ranges, investor activity and sentiment, and the like. 

Those are solid economic anchors.

Agreed, stores are not a good forward looking view of economic drivers for growth.Personally I don’t feel the process is hard.

. - positive cash flow, positive trends in the area like population growth, area revitalization, economic stability (not just one employer)Question 3. - if you are new, it is a good idea.

Such a factory would be a big economic driver for the area and would help to provide long term cost-effective housing options necessary to satisfy future needs on the islands. 

As many experienced multifamily syndicators can attest, a good content marketing strategy can help create an economic moat around your business.Have you found luck with hiring content creators, and if so, where do you recommend looking for talent?

Who I am: My name is Calvin Raab and I am currently a college student studying economics.

Top 2 criteria are areas (1) on an upward trajectory and (2) with decent economics.

On the other hand you can buy in other areas that you know nothing about, that may have severe winter weather, seasonal sales, a limited economic base, low wages, etc.

If another financial crisis happens sooner or later, I suspect that for the case of many people "from 0 to 50 properties" stories will look less impressive than "from 0 to 1 fully-owned property" stories.