Frankly, if you have specific area's in mind, concentrate your research there.

I think it was the wrong thing to concentrate on.

@Kenny ManchesterI don’t have anything to sell and I’ve said it before, but I would encourage you to follow where the big SFR funds are concentrating their efforts.

Not saying that's the correct course of action just what I've seen as to the majority's mindset. ya the idea that they can get another 5k for house so they can make a whopping 150 extra simply does not come into the thought process.Only thing close to that I have seen agents go through MLS listings and concentrate on the ones with the HIghest BAC or co brokerage fee but this I have only seen once and that guy made 500k to 1 million a year in sales commissions and was / is a wild man.   

As a big plus we have area economic "power-houses", that is say an area with a concentration of industry centric leaders with massive area investment to a level that relocation would be all but impossible.

3)Would it be considered more profitable to make decisions that make the business spread out into other sectors, or concentrate all efforts on 1 front, where it is already established?

I think concentrating on the (i) student housing, or (ii) early-mid 20's professional housing - is what I'd like to pursue, due to being able to readjust monthly rent every time a student graduates / moves out, or the younger professional moves on to their next phase in life.

The objective would not to become a property manager but to learn.There are some who concentrate on only lending money; i.e. private lenders.

I think its really a matter of the availability of the structures you are looking for...we mapped every parcel in Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati and found an interesting ratio and concentration of between 20,000 and 25,000 structures that have a land use code consistent with multifamily...all 3 metro areas have about the same number of people...and I suspect this pattern holds true in a lot of metro areas...I guess the point is the effort needs to be sourcing a deal "off-market"...a bit of strategy can produce the property you are looking for....there are some other building patterns we would with the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program...do you have an idea on the unit count you are looking for? 

Let's concentrate on those before we talk about other people who own previous year liens on the same parcel.In Arizona, the taxes you pay this year (2021) are the previous year taxes (2020).