It is my understanding that hair characteristics (e.g. thickness, color, etc) are resultant from the properties of the hair follicle. Therefore, can hair characteristics be considered a factor in determining the likelihood of someone developing genetic balding? For instance, if one has hair like that of a non-balding relative, would this be considered a factor?
Nope. Hair characteristics (thickness, color, wave) are result from genes. Male pattern baldness is also a result from genes. However, they do not correlate.