In 2010, I lived in Arizona and was active duty Air Force.

Biggest mistake I see first-time buyers/investors make here in Denver and Colorado Springs is taking too long to buy or not buying at all.If you're young, time is the biggest money-maker for you, not buying the absolute best deal.

If they lease between November and mid March you are adding vacancy to find the right person at an optimum price so I would  make sure they end leases and set new expirations in the spring to early fall to ensure that.Back to asset class though think of that because if the preexisting tenant is dirty and destructive not only do you need to pay to fix the stuff their deposit won't cover but you also might have 2 to 4 weeks of vacancy before you can even start to lease it. 

Maybe, just maybe, you can hang around long enough to say no to enough songs, to enough opportunities, you reach the rare air of becoming expert in a certain niche, industry, market and skill.

@Aaron Mazzrillo my claim that California will crash was not pulled out of thin air.

I’m actually interested in short term honestly Air bnb arbitrage was highly recommended for me to start off.

(There is also the multi-family house-hack where you buy a duplex, live in one side and rent the other, but A) those are harder to find and B) the numbers don't work as well as rent-by-the-room.)So for instance, in Denver or Colorado Springs here, house-hacking would be buying a 4-5br home.

Do they have central air?

I added a hot tub in a property last spring and my winter this year revenue is up also 70% the first 3 months of this year vs last before the hot tub was in.

We have several Air Force bases here, so lots of military looking.