I currently own one property in the Huntsville, AL area. 

Clark-Fulton has some great cash flow opportunities, but as you said, is defiantly risky for more reasons than one.

Find one's that work for you, not that you have to work around.It's paramount you own the listing. 

Our other long stays have been people in town for work (one was a staffing company manager and one worked on windmills) thanks in advance!

I have 8 doors with them and this last year one of my homes had massive fire damage. 

One key lesson from this transaction was recognizing the value of speed.

If you find yourself saying "I am new to real estate", then you do need some time to educate yourself (BiggerPockets is great for that) and plan your first investment carefully before jumping in.Remember, buying a traditional rental is one of many different ways you can enter REI world.

For your first one, I would consider looking at markets such as Lubbock, San Marcos, and even smaller communities around San Antonio.I can't speak for the other markets, but here in Lubbock we are seeing a higher sales velocity than we've ever seen before.

However once we started making improvements to the property, the idea of converting this to a STR (like the one we did a year ago), started to be a consideration.

Morning coffee power hour, breakfast one day, a Happy Hour, whatever!