First time investor looking to buy property

[Thomas Knight]

Hello,

My name is Thomas, and i'm looking to buy some investment properties. Myself and a friend of mine have about 50k combined saved up and we're looking at possibly buying either a single family home, or a multi family property/building near Penn State the school we will be attending in 2016. Both of us are currently in the USMC and are saving our money to invest.

My thought was to basically buy a multifamily home/building and have myself and my friend live in one of the units while renting out the others. and if we can generate enough income, have a property management company deal with the building so we don't have to worry as much about tennants, or maintenance calls. A lot of the properties in that area i have noticed seem cheap in price but often require work to be livable. 

what are your thoughts about having contractors refurbishing the building/units, and any thing that we should look out for in general? What advice or tips would you give us first time investors?

Thank you for your time,

Thomas