I'd prefer a more suburban area but I could honestly live anywhere, as long as its not too bad.

And you are picking a location that totally disables the #1 reason why you should buy real estate.If your first deal goes bad, there will never be a second one.

We are in the midst of a bad experience with Evernest in CO. 

I was already tired of using public transport, plus when the weather was bad the way to work took up even more time.

They arent really allowed to turn you away, but they will push you away with terrible loan pricing and intentionally bad service. 

Every deal I've seen go bad is because of a bad contractor.

It may not be a bad idea to give yourself a few months to network and learn.

If something feels off, or bad reviews, do not rent to them.

That is not true, if you start too early and lack experience and then have a deal go bad, it can set you back 5 to 10 years.

You might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”, since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant: https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processes