I live in San Diego, CA and purchased 3 single family homes over the last year, 1 in TX and 2 in OH.

I did all the labor my self aside from hiring certified electrician and plumber as per country permit regulations.I live in Alaska with my family and work in construction in general (journeyman carpenter turned commercial superintendent turned GC and now rolling steady as one man 'handyman' doing lots of finish work the last couple years).

I think the last one I watched was probably under 300.

With that said Phoenix had one of the highest home price declines in the last market down turn.  

Another benefit is lower flood risk...those may be famous last words, but you're in a good location/elevation relative to other parts of Houston metro.It is very street to street and block to block.

Quote from @Keira Hamilton: Here are 5 lessons I learned from selling my laundromat last year that can help you as a prospective business buyer.Lesson 1️⃣ - Listing sites can be a legitimate way to buy and sell a business.I will often hear people say that they’re not even going on listing sites because “they only have bottom of the barrel listings,” but this has not been my personal experience.

Lastly, what other considerations or resources can you think of that will help me understand the process and feel more comfortable as a first time home buyer?

Historically REITs in US have outperformed the sp500 for last 50/40/30 years by 3-4% a year, but they have underperformed sp500 in the last 20 years due to Quantitative Easing induced liquidity stock inflation.

Lastly, bookkeeping..

I'll continue the strategy I've been using for the last 2-3 years, building small apartment buildings.