I have a source of private lending to place down payments on homes that I would intend on refinancing and repaying within 12-18 months.

One source of cities to avoid is Neighborhood Scout's 100 most dangerous cities.

Finally, a new Clark County ordinance was passed prohibiting property owners and managers from discriminating against prospective tenants based on the source of their income or an eviction related to a loss of income experienced because of the pandemic (section 8 included in the source of income discrimination).Nevada previously was a very landlord friendly state.

Calling it a cleaning fee (vs. revenue source) and treating it like a pass-through cost gave it the illusion of being a double-taxed service.

Today the median price in my favorite county(which is the fastest growing county in the state) is $379,900. 

Here's a link for the source of the data. 

We flip in WA state where the market is hot and I have been challenging myself on what is good and what is over the top.if you spend time searching Amazon, clearance sections, Ikea, &  build relationships with vendors (my countertop Co) you can source current on trend finishes and not spend a ton. 

Or is it a MLM approach, providing a main source of income for the gurus/coaches to go fund their own deals?   

As long as you promote your properties for rent on the main channels, such as Zillow(One of the best, as it crawls quite a few sources), AZ Republic/AZ Central (Heavily read by many PHX residents), East Valley Tribune, Craigslist (inferior, due to scamming and lack of reach, but still works and free), etc, you will generate a lot of interest.

I've looked at rentometer, craigslist, hotpad, zumper, and other sources out there.