I thought to forgo the single family homes but I think it would be too large of a jump to go to large apartment buildings, unless someone could educate me otherwise. 

@James Borin welcome to BP, you will,find a wealth of information here, the podcast are also very educational and entertaining. 

I am very new to this; I'm learning, but very overwhelmed.I have an education and a stable job (but there are no promises in life).

Just a slight correction, in Arizona you cannot take online RE courses for your pre-license education requirement, courses have to be "in-classroom." 

In your situation, I'd be making sure anything you buy doesn't directly affect your educational processes, but always remember, it's a business, and any business needs attention - even your Property manager will require a portion of your time (maybe 30-60 minutes per month) - answering emails regarding maintenance, querying invoices, etc!

I am super excited to learn more about real estate in order to make educated decisions in the future.Best regards,Jason

When I first started out, I used to do out of state investments (i still have a out of state rental), but personally, I felt I was so detached form my investment, my education was fairly limited (nothing wrong with that if you want hands off), but if you're wanting to start a property management company, I would be hands on It's not easy starting up a business being hands off.

Most are broke and not yet educated.  

Most can't name them, they are usually in Chapter One in a formal real estate educational setting.

My background is in corporate finance and I moved to Washington 5 years ago from Hawaii after getting hired at a company here.