Phoenix short term rental advice for newbie

[Layne Cordova]

Hello all! 

My name is Layne and I am new to Bigger Pockets. My fiancé and I are considering investing in the Phoenix market, and I wanted to maybe get some advice from some seasoned veterans. 

Backstory: we are having to move to Phoenix for about a year (possibly up to 18 months) and don't want to blow our $ on rent. We are considering purchasing a home (2/2 or 3/2) to live in ourselves during this time, and then hold as a short term rental. As long as my fiancé holds his current job (baseball) we will be in Phoenix every spring living in this property from mid Feb to April. This would be our home, but we would be away for the season (April-September/October). We would hope to get snowbirds in the winter, where we would go spend time with our families in the south. 

Is this a bad time to invest in the Phoenix market? I am seeing mixed opinions on these threads. We would have a furnished rental and I believe we could have summer tenants based on our baseball contacts- lots of guys have to come back to rehab injuries. 

We are looking to be all in for under 325k and we qualify for VA/FHA.

Areas of interest include:

South Scottsdale

Encanto

Central Phoenix 

East Camelback

Do you see snowbirds flocking to a particular area? Do they require pools? 

Thanks in advance for your help- I know this is unique and I appreciate all feedback!

Layne