I too have seriously considered Airbnb in popular cities.

I can't speak to other parts of the country, but as far as Florida is concerned  the Emerald Coast is one of the more affordable areas as well and very popular destination. 

What are some of the popular schools of thoughts here? 

The LLC will give some protection, but a healthy amount of insurance would also be an option, especially for your partner.As for forming the llc, that is easy enough to do in Georgia - it is $25 for the name registration, $100 for the filing and then $50/yr for renewal.https://georgia.gov/popular-topic/corporations-llc

I'm going to start with reading popular real estate books but how could I put my learning in a good direction without missing an important topic?

The same investor could then go straight to the casino with his $50k and risk it all in the poker room, blackjack table, or roulette.

Also, at your price point, it will be a challenge to find any duplexes around that number that are in good shape or in the most popular areas.  

@Chaz Mathias The emerging markets moniker popularized by Lindahl doesn't really apply in this stage of the real estate cycle where everything is hot. 

But only in the last little bit has appreciation caught up with minimums and the practice started to become popular. 

Quickbooks is the most popular business accounting software.