I believe I am then in a great situation to either save some money month to month from my current situation to invest in other things OR replace what I am paying for my apartment and just contribute that amount to more equity in my home since I can live comfortable now spending the same amount on my apartment rent each month.  

I have more free time then I would like, so I spend countless hours browsing the internet to find blogs, books, videos, and discussion forums to learn from.

It's a 2 year, 2 billion dollar project. 

Spending a quarter million dollars to only get 3 grand a month isn’t very exciting .

To say that a contractor should never be spending their money is WRONG.

Nothing wrong with finding one now but your time is better spend looking for contractors. 

Not really spending anything on it. 

Spend that money on where it matters most, kitchen, bath, fresh paint etc. 

There has been a ton of luxury condos built in that area and in Scottsdale, and the prices seem to defy reality for what you're getting (No land, no driveway, shared walls). 500k+ for a townhouse/condo as a personal residence is one thing, but it seems like a lot to spend on a rental property when you can only rent it for around 3k. 

Did you spend a lot of time learning from different sources?