My girlfriend is about to launch a single family home on AirBnb right by the Med Center and any insight would be appreciated.

The museum district is great if you are needing to be close to the med center.

Natomas, West Sac, Downtown/Midtown, Med Center, etc are all much more attractive options IMO. 

The facts on the house in question:Area I need to live in for next 2 years, so I would renovate, move in for 1-2 years, then rent 2200sq ft - small for our family of six, need to add about 500sq ft which pushes reno $ up$285K asking price (a friend's deceased mom's house has not gone on market)1960's home needs $70K-$120K in reno depending on final plans (needs foundation work)ARV $400K-$450K conservative, there are some 480K compsRental value around 3K very nice professional/young family area of Houston close to Med Center Values all over Houston seem down average 10-15% Think I could have the owner carry interest only until reno is complete, then refi out about 400K.Anyone with experience that wants to weigh in with ideas and help me evaluate this deal would be excellent!

Once we fix it up and my wife finishes school in the Med Center, we plan to hold onto it as a rental property.

Long term- heights, med center, mid-town, Exxon, Grandparkway, there are tons of places.I believe you can buy as many as 4 properties with conventional loans(cheap down payments).The first step is go to your local bank(or 2 banks) and ask them to pre-approve you(ask for a pre-approval letter).

The colleges add to that in different areas, but demand and price tend to rise and fall somewhat independent of the universities.The exception are the universities near the med center, including Rice and all of the graduate schools.

For example, I own an SFR rental in Tahoe Park which is less than half a mile from UC Davis Med Center which has a strong cash flow and a steady base of renters as a result of the proximity to UCDMC. 

Our jobs (mine, my wife, potential roommates) are in the Med Center as well as the University of Houston so being in the inner loop is crucial to the location of the property.

Airbnb is doing well there given its location to med center, downtown, etc.Best of luck