So as a newer person in an area if you want a lot of bids before you close you'll normally end up with the more expensive guys or the ones that don't have work at the moment (usually for a reason).

I'd rent first to be sure I'm going to stay. 105 degrees to 115 is normal May to October in Scottsdale and no Puget Sound 

I'd normally also suggest Marshall, Black Mountain, and Old Fort, but many of these towns were heavily impacted by Helene.

Depending on your loan it might only work in the STR game.HOA’s normally do not allow in the Oceanside area but if you get on the beach then they do with restrictions.If you want a personal consult let me know.I have a team here in Oceanside, Carlsbad.

I know Deed in Lieu is a common and normal practice.

From my understanding, normally with a VA loan assumption.

Labor is cheaper down there, USD $2.50 per hour, which is normal rate. 

It is normally not suggested to own appreciating property, such as real estate, within an S-Corp.

New owners are normally at 2 extremes...

With current interest rates, and they are at least 1% higher with potentially additional points for non owner occupied property, it is hard to find properties that will allow for positive cash flow after paying the mortgage, if you are looking for money for the down payment from a private lender, those are normally at higher than market and I am not sure it would be possible to pay it off.... please remember you need to take into account that you may not have a tenant for a certain amount of time, a tenant may stop paying rent, or you will have a big ticket item to fix, so I would wait if I were you and save to have enough for the down payment and closing costs and perhaps some money set aside for repairs. you also want to make sure that you have your own emergency fund outside of the money needed for the investment property because life happens ....