Buying a House with 3 Friends... Good or bad idea?

[Cory Ventura]

My friends and I are 24 years old and 6 months out of college.  We are all in good careers, I myself being an accountant for Deloitte, one friend is a sales engineer for Nalco, and my other friend is a head sales rep for Fastenal.  We have all been living together for the last 4 years and are tired of paying the mortgage for someone else.  We want to start paying ourselves and we believe the best way to do this is to buy a house together.  The goal would be to turn it into a rental unit once we are all ready to move out and start our families.  The houses in Fresno that we are considering range from 230k-320k.  

I would appreciate any advice, whether it be on the type of house to look for, cautions of investing with friends or simply whether this is a really good idea or one that is destined for failure.  

Thank you in advance,

Cory