Watch any of the weekly webinars by Brandon Turner and he throws out a 20% off code every time.

The price you want to pay for a 3/1 or 3/2 is not going to be doable in most parts of town unless the house needs work (realtors who watch the MLS closer may be able to comment better here, I'd bet the southeast part of town has homes near that price).You said you haven't done much research yet, this is one of the hottest markets in the country, you will need knowledgeable people on the ground here to assist you to make this happen.   

Anything to watch out for with this process?

It reminded of this silly cartoon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

Watch inspection and you could call the numbers on furnace and water heater to see who installed them and ask them if there was any recent maintenance on them.. and if so did the owner do the bare minimums.

Since the HELOC is a short-term play, I was thinking of keeping it on the variable rate, and keep close watch of the prime rate & the Federal Funds Rate to have an idea if the interest rate is set to increase. 

Between next door pet lady yelling at all times of the day from 6 am to 8pm for her cats/dogs to go potty and neighbor across the street who has numerous police visits makes the house less desirable for me to keep. 2.

The exact wording and length of time required varies by state.Maybe an eviction lawyer / service would be a good choice this first time - then, you can watch what they do.

Otherwise you're going to watch all that cash flow evaporate with one bad tenant, one shady contractor, or one really bad unexpected capex...  

With new things I'm typically a very hands-on learner, preferring an observe-replicate-innovate sort of model, so I'd love to start meeting investors and watching deals go down to see what's working in the Northwest Phoenix/Glendale-ish area where my wife and I own our home.I'm excited to start meeting people, continue learning, and hopefully pull the trigger on a deal in the next few months!