Page 5 is demographic data.

As I mentioned, it doesn't mean you too can't be successful there but there is a small bias.So do your own market research, look at the actual data, market growth, population, rent control, job growth etc. 

you need to make it into a legal unit- egress windows, separate entry, meet minimum height, kitchen/bath with code requirements- be careful about taking the pirate approach.

Your entry rate is low.

I have entry level SFRs  in a blue collar area.

With the exception of the 2007-2009 recession and the 1990-91 Gulf War recession, no other recessions have impacted the housing market, if you look at the Hope Price Index data from 1975-2018.I'm not saying that everyone shouldn't carefully analyze their deals right now, but we should always carefully analyze them. 

I'm handy and could do most updates or renovations on my own, but I'm only interested in something that wouldn't take longer than a week or two of work to update as I'm out of state.I live in San Diego so I'd need a quality PM.My reasons for looking at AZ are the general lower costs of entry level homes.

Let's examine the data.  

As someone with no actual experience investing in real estate, I want to know what kind of data I should be looking at so I can start to practice analyzing some potential deals. 

The value to the buyer can add up to a very sizeable amount of money; typically pays the up-front lender fee to lower the interest rate, which results in accumulating paid interest savings for the buyer as long as the buyer owns the property, or for the life of the loan; may add up to many tens of thousands of dollars; make sure you check the fine print of the lender's loan lock provisions; be sure your seller's money is truly paying down the loan rate as opposed to paying other lender charges to the buyer.  3.Seller-Funded Temporary BuydownsBuydowns can also be structured to adjust the buyer-paid interest rate for a limited number of years; can cover the first two, three or four years or more of the buyer's loan; allows your seller to reduce the buyer's ongoing loan cost (monthly payment) considerably.4.Owner FinancingA willing seller may be able to keep their selling price intact by offering financing to a buyer; for a seller who needs to sell as soon as possible for the best possible price; expands the potential market for buyers to those who might not qualify with a lender for any number of reasons relating to their credit, verifiable income, or other issues; seller creates an 'investment" that can produce an annuity with a very good rate of return for many years; seller needs to become very well educated on how to qualify a potential buyer (how to get credit, income, debt ratio, and other accurate personal historical data on the buyer-and how to verify that data); seller needs legal advice to review contract documents, as well as title and escrow services to conduct a title search and closing; buyers attracted to seller financing may have income sources including part- time work, bonus income, royalty income, dividend and interest income from investments, or they may be newly self employed; seller who finances needs to get a substantial down payment and ensure that the property is adequately insured by the buyer and that initial property taxes are pre-paid and a tax payment plan is established; if the buyer stops paying, the seller will have to proceed like a bank or other lender and foreclose on the buyer. 5.Contract for DeedA contract for deed agreement to purchase is similar to a seller-financed purchase.