if you buy a long term rental, you may not see true returns for 5 or 10 years (although there are other immediate potential benefits, like passive losses on your taxes). 

Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free).

The pro development and affordable housing advocates use the term NIMBY, but I suspect it is the rare person that buys in a single family zoned area that would be thrilled to have 17 units (qp16 additional units added) in the lot next to them.My initial protege was the land source on this effort.  

Hi @Michael ElliottWe have financed about 15 STRs in Encore for a client and I have another friend buying the second largest unit and the largest lot there.

They can go to their second home or buy another.

@Rafael Ramos All your goals contradict each other:(1) Cashflow: buy Class C & D properties2) Appreciation: buy Class A & B properties3) Low Crime: buy Class A & B properties4) Why would you want your investments to lose money to lower your taxes?

We usually have 2-5 properties a year that we buy or sale.  

As a CFA you probably know the old quote from Warren Buffett who said something like "buy what you know and understand". 

You can buy a set of five for under $300, subscription for the recording software is $10 a month, then the cost of WiFi or hotspot.If you've already had a couple break-ins, you are obviously in a high-crime area.

One golden rule I follow,if it takes a long time to fix/replace when it breaks, don't buy a cheap one.Imagine, this thing breaks in the middle of your peak season and the people who can come out to rebuild are 2 weeks out....It takes at least a day or two to build something like this even if you are super skilled.