Chicago has amazing inventory of 2-4 unit buildings, so you will likely find that you will be targeting those versus single family homes if you are in the city proper.

Suggest you do some research (Biggerpockets is a great resource) to identify virtual meetups in your target market or some other mechanism to network with investors in the area.

Having a partner in the renovation business can help to keep some of your costs down, possibly giving you an edge on the buying side.Areas to target will largely depend on your income goals, your plans for property management, and your tolerance for drama.Regarding the refi part of your plans, @Darrin Carey can also offer some input - especially about target values, timelines, and the various pitfalls.As with most anything else in this business, the strategy is definitely achievable so long as you do your homework beforehand.

There is a big hospital in my town, so I think I can target to traveling nurses, however we have very active 2 toddler boys, so I am not sure if anyone will stay in my house.  

As far as a market downturn it depends on your specific market and where/how the asset is positioned in the market in terms of location, quality, target demo, and the type of debt that is in place.

., my city defines STR as less than 30 day rentals and my state defines STR as less than 32 days.)Those of us who rent to multiple target audiences understand each other when we talk of the STR, MTR and LTR markets.

Is there a particular target demographic for these types of homes? 

Wondering if that's too far to be targeting for MTR.

I am focusing on Raw Land and targeting off market deals by building my mailer lists from the Delinquent Tax Lists. 

If they have a track record of hitting their investor equity targets then that could be a positive sign, but not necessarily indicative that they'll hit the target this time.