Most teams and brokerages have splits or compensation for agents working underneath them or along side them, so they have some financial interest in your success and are compensated for their time to teach you.

We have been exploring some cities in Los Angeles county as well as riverside county some of the metrics we were paying attention to are population growth in the last year, median income and home prices, the unemployment rate as well as job growth, future job growth, and violent crime alongside with property crimes to start narrowing down on some potentials cities.

@Michael Weis  if it's such a good deal, you can ask your agent if they want to invest their capital in it alongside yours.

Alongside the education, my office brings a family-oriented vibe that is very welcoming and supportive. 

It seems like a lot of the replies on this post mention working alongside either a agent or investor in order to learn the process.

I, alongside my brother, have just recently purchased a duplex in Grand Rapids, MI.

This will be expedited with my fiance doing the same thing alongside me.

Processing for a loan officer or broker, Transaction coordinator for a realtor, even something in title or escrow will give you experience looking over other people's transactions and learning alongside other industry pros. ...and then when it is time to buy, whenever that comes, you'll have a leg up over many others, even some twice or 3x your age. 

There are also further resources such as theclose  that can give you further insight into questions to ask (alongside the great recommendations already shared in this thread).All the best!

Alongside this, I have been looking for a general contractor in Tucson just in case I do decide to go about this, and was wondering if anybody has any recommendations?