If they get divorced before they are 30 they have time to regroup.  

you say that you "were told to" get an STR for tax purposes, which seems odd, and that you only have 30-40K... and you might use HELOC money to help with the down payment, which will just put tremendous pressure on you to be profitable and support all of the debt.unless i am missing something i would back up and regroup before you buy a random STR in a random market and hope it supports all the debt you will have to have...

@Sandy Fiser...Welcome to BP...Patience pays..Find your local meetup or RE group.  

You've got some great guides for important things like keyword alerts; I'd also encourage you to check out the podcasts (great inspiration, especially while working on your properties) as well as connecting with local RE groups (whether via BP or other sites like Meetup) if you haven't already.  

I stop, take a deep breath, regroup and prioritize things.  

Please let me know if anyone wants to partner up on a deal or just network.Just time to regroup...

And check out the Arizona RE group at http://azreia.orgThere you can meet local investors who might know more about the local market.

There are a good number of meetup.com RE groups locally.

I am a tad late to this conversation but as an experienced investor, I wanted to touch on several comments in this thread, I will do my best to remember them all.Build your team first (of course this comes after educating yourself on the specific strategy you intend to do with books, BP, mentor, RE group meet ups, etc).

That HI Is very expensive for the most partI would suggest looking for an RE group there.