Pueblo Metro generally is more volatile than the Colorado Springs Metro, meaning that The Springs is more resilient to market fluctuations, and therefore in my opinion would be the smarter bet. 

Would not recommend with the volatility of the oil industry right now.TLDR = Texas market rocks!

Even though we has a good amount of savings, I was loathe to touch it because I didn't have a consistent way of making it grow (banks pay less than 1% and stocks are too volatile to count on stable growth).Now, with over a dozen buy and holds that cash flow well and some other passive income sources (dividends and notes), I feel less qualms about splurging occasionally because I know the passive income more than pays for it.

Real estate markets can be volatile and subject to local economic conditions, potentially putting all your eggs in one basket.Liquidity ConcernsReal estate is an illiquid asset.

Comes down to vetting the opportunity and the sponsor and trusting them with what they are doing and their comprehension of the asset class, market and plans in case of some market volatility. 

Stocks are more volatile which can be good or bad.  

Many private REITs are less volatile due to the fact that they are valued quarterly by private institutions rather than in real-time (with forward projections and assumptions priced in) by the capitalistic marketplace.

I plan to use RE just as supplemental to my income, so I am trying to get my W-2 job settled and a little less volatile. 

The cap rate tends to change slowly and is not as volatile as SFR appraisals can be.  

Make sure there is more than one established industry that is creating jobs and be wary of areas that rely heavily on industries that are volatile by nature and cycle through booms and busts regularly.