But the kids need to get to school, crap the dog has fleas again, I already have a solid job. it can wait. 

In addition, I would shoot for something simple like a 1960s built ranch on a slab crawlspace in a good neighborhood with good schools, and stay away from the owner built homes and/or basements for now.

If you're doing buy and hold, I usually just look for the gross rent multiplier to see what's worth looking at, then run hard numbers and check schools and area after that.

@Bob E. describes the school of thought that I subscribe to. 

This umbrella policy covers me if I hit a school bus on the way home, if someone gets hurt at a rental or even my primary residence.  

None of those people want to move frequently, I think families tend to move more because they become pressed to as kids outgrow certain things in the area (school, sports, friends) or new kids are added to the mix. 

I've been interested in real estate for awhile, but now that with only a year till I graduate, what I'm wanting to do in the future is becoming more and more urgent.

I graduated from Texas Tech in 2011 with a Bachelors in Business Administration and went to work for a mid-major commercial contractor out of school.

I just graduated from college, moved out to the west coast, got a job and would like to get started owning my first property.

If you went to school a little while back and your rates are really low, maybe there's a little less urgency there.More importantly, if you're in public service, I pretty sure there's something called the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.