Buying Into A Multi Home Property

[Eric Walters]

I greatly appreciate any and all advice that anyone cares to offer. 

Here is my situation. I am in my mid 20's. I live in CA. I have three siblings of similar age that I wish to invest in real estate with. We have an advantage of a combined inheritance of about $300,000. 

I have been reading into being a landlord extensively and it is what I want to do to build long term wealth. My goal is to purchase a house for myself and my siblings, improve it's value and buy a second house as soon as possible and rent out the first. Then I want to buy a third house. I don't see why I should ever stop buying houses and adding to my real estate portfolio. I ultimately want to be able to work full time as the property manager of all these houses. I realize that the riskiest part of being a landlord is finding the right tenants but I believe I have apt resources for determining who to rent to.

Life has presented a certain option to me that I would appreciate help in deciding on.

My grandfather and a few of my uncles together own a parcel of land that currently has one 2br home, one studio apartment, and a duplex. One side has 2br the other has 1br. Apparently the land is zoned to allow for even more housing.

My grandfather is a master carpenter as are a few of my uncles. In the past, he has expressed that his dream is for my siblings and I to move out there with him and and live temporarily in the one (very spacious) 2br house and to build another house for us to live in (presumably 3 to 4br).

The property would put my commute at about 35 mins, but it is about 45 to an hour and 15mins away from the rest of my friends and family.

I am trying to figure out if this is a good investment. The property has already been dramatically improved since it was purchased. It started with only one broken down house. I am comfortable going into business with these members of my family. Not all my relatives are reliable and trustworthy but my siblings, grandfather, and these uncles are.

I don't like the distance this place would put me at, but I think eventually when my grandfather inevitably passes, (and when my siblings and I find spouses), I could move to a more central location and rent out and manage all the houses (which at that point would be 5 sources of rent or more).

Is this a realistic idea? Is managing multiple houses from an hour away smart? Is there anything you feel that I am not realizing? I have very few people to turn to for advice and I don't want to discuss this with my grandfather until I have a much better idea of what I should do (because I don't want to get his hopes up). I can't express how much I appreciate any advice from people with experience.