Difference is that customers of Uber are NYC residents who vote while customers of Airbnb are visitors who don't, and Uber drivers earn a full time employment living while Airbnb hosts earn a few extra bucks when they leave town (exception for the businesses set up as Airbnb marketers).  

I was looking for neighborhoods with good employment prospects and lower crime rates and thought those both looked good. 

Number one thing is find some form of employment. 

I'm currently employed for a very small family run start up tech company.  

I'm also employed 28 years  at a waste water treatment plant.

Make sure you reach out to some agents, check your local municipality business page to know any upcoming business coming in or closing down, research the market(employment, population:increasing/decreasing, etc) again all of this is available online. 

I am employed as a Property Manager, Rehab Estimator, and I perform Valuations for a company that specializes in tax deed/sales acquired properties.

But the case where you are buying, rehabbing and selling within your IRA would in most cases not be applicable for UBIT, here is food for thought or arguments:(1) Your IRA is not you, and your IRA is for your benefit, and is managed by a directed trustee or custodian for your benefit(2) Any investment in your IRA will be deemed as Passive Activity, since you cannot materially participate in the investment from your IRA (else it is a prohibited transaction)(3) Your IRA does not file any self employment income taxes(4) Your IRA may file UBIT based on UDFI (assuming the IRA has borrowed funds for acquisition or rehabilitation)Now if your IRA invested in an pass-through which did the flips as you describe, the entity itself first must satisfy the requirement of a "real estate operating company" to receive any exemption, else if it does not it could generate a UBIT for your IRA as an "operating company".As others have mentioned, please work with a knowledgeable professional in this space for your specific situation.

I went where everyone recommends you go when you’re starting out in real estate: my family.My parents are middle class, have a paid off house, substantial savings, and are both employed; however, they are extremely conservative financially, so I wasn’t sure how it would go.

Although, I have one problem, I am self-employed and have only been in business since last July.