And the unwavering anti-sex offender protesters (while rightfully so in MANY cases) make no distinction between a pedophile, and an old man that slapped a waitress' rear once in a diner 20 years ago (not condoning, but just pointing out it's a WIDE swath). 

What is the distinction between county and city?...

Take a look at The Ultimate Guide to Grading Cleveland Neighborhoods for some flavor on the properties you may be looking at on Zillow or other websites.From there you should figure out what your risk tolerance is then go from there.

When doing a lease option we always use two separate and distinct contracts:  a lease agreement and an option to purchase agreement. 

(D) A person, partnership, association, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or corporation licensed in a jurisdiction where there is no legal distinction between a real estate broker license and a real estate salesperson license must meet the requirements of division (A) of this section before engaging in any activity described in this section that requires a real estate broker license in this state.

They have also made a great distinction between property held for productive use vs property held primarily for personal use (like 2nd homes and vacation homes). 

It would be nice to have a home that's distinctly different from my NYC apartment (mountain as opposed to town) and it also seems there might be more profit to be made on a ski/mountain rental.

Is the distinction you're making actually between AC and MC cable?

Each suburb, Tempe, Mesa, Scottsdale, Glendale, Goodyear, Peoria, etc. has it's own flavor and your preferences will change after you've been there a while.The Phoenix market is mature and deals are few and far between. 

This is a long game and it takes a lot of time to either build the team and structures to have a deal land at your doorstep, or search through a lot of avenues yourself.Remember that there are 100 flavors of "turnkey" companies and more are not truly ones where you can turn the key, than are.