Here's a quick list we use when advising clients:Avoid septic if possible (higher long-term maintenance)No power lines or flood zones (hurts resale/rentability)Good school district and low-crime zip codeNo HOA or landlord-unfriendly restrictionsBuilt after 1980 to minimize major capital items (plumbing, electrical, HVAC)Single-story brick homes rent well and cost less to maintainFor a deep dive, check out the BiggerPockets books “The Book on Rental Property Investing” and “Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat (BRRRR)”.

There's some other items that may be pertinent to a broader audience but will keep my comments to real estate 

Operating ExpensesInclude estimates for:Property taxesInsuranceProperty management (if applicable, and I would reccomend budgeting 10% of monthly rent for this fee )Maintenance/repairsVacancy allowance (typically 5-8%)HOA fees (if any)Capital expenditures (CapEx – reserve for big-ticket items like roof, HVAC)4.

This would typically still cover any damages to the house itself, and any liability for owning the property, but would no longer cover the contents of the house, which is a fairly large line item within your owner-occupant coverage. 

The list also inlcudes items that should be addressed in a timely manner but are decidedly not emergencies.

Items that correlate to rent growth are the same item that correlate to appreciation: diverse economy, population growth, rising wages, supply/demand especially constraints on supply, etc.2) do not make the mistake of thinking residential real estate (RE) is passive.

It outlines 27 items they want. 

There are items you can research which will give you a better understanding of what drives costs, but I don't know how much that will impact your investment decision.Check your property assessment.

Soon with raising prices, repair costs/labor costs going up each year, HOA, Taxes, and all other items you will soon be negative.

A very thorough inspection in the beginning is crucial to build a replacement plan for high dollar items such as the HVAC if they are aging.