Advice on whether to start with vacation rentals

[Heather Monterroso]

I could use some advice as a newbie or wanna-be real estate investor.  Right now I'm gathering information and figuring out where I should start with my investing career.  For those with experience in vacation rentals, would you suggest that someone starting out get into purchasing short term/vacation rentals right away?  I live in Florida and am thinking that I have a great opportunity to own some vacation rentals and manage them myself since I can get to know the gulf coast and am within 45 minutes of many islands/beaches.  I'm a bit concerned that vacation rentals may have more volatility and be a bit harder to turn a profit, and am thinking I maybe should start a base of income with multifamily rentals first.  Please let me know your thoughts.