[MIlwaukee, WI] Name's Brandon. I'm 30, have 86k, ready to go!

[Brandon Smith]

Hi everyone. Name's Brandon. I'm 30 years old, have $79,000 in investments + $7000 in liquid cash, and want to build up a passive income that pays for a mortgage on a qualitative ($250,000) home, lets me drive a car I'm not embarrassed to drive ($45,000), and gives me the security knowing that if I ever have difficulty finding a job that pays what I get paid now, I'll never have to worry. 

My "flipping/reno" experience is non-existent, I couldn't find a stud in a wall if I tried. I've been watching several hours of BetterPockets on Youtube, and have been taking a lot of notes. 

I feel like my brain is essentially fried and I'd like to start developing a gameplan:

• I currently live at home with my Mom, pay $300 in rent, typically save $2200/mo after all expenses ($2500/mo if you add my rent). 
• I'd like to move out soon, but I've been debating what type of property to buy. 
• My brother wants to move out with me the moment I move out, and is willing to pay me $500/mo for 1-3 years until I will ask him to move out. We've lived together for 28 years and can put up with each-other. 
• My step-cousin wants to move in with me in May 2019, and is willing to pay me $500/mo until he can afford to buy an investment property of his own. This would only come to pass should I purchase a property that needs rennovation work, but I plan on buying much sooner than May 2019. I'm a little hesitant on inviting him to live with me while a remodel would take place, due to he having a dog and girlfriend, so a Duplex might be the only option if I agree to this. His living with me is contingent on the next point. 
• Both my brother and step-cousin are willing to work every day with me in exchange for free rent. They have no experience as I do ether. I expect I'd get 1 hour of labor a day from each of them for 30 days. Once renovations are done, neither my brother or step-cousin will be allowed to live in the property.
• I'm an introvert and have grown up in a house so I'm not used to living with other people, but I understand that if getting a Duplex is a smart way to start due to a tenant that could pay the bills for me. 

I'd like to avoid the pitfalls Brandon (the VP of Betterpockets) talks about, which is not trying to do everything yourself. I have cash I can leverage to try and get remodeling work done without having to do it myself, but I want to execute on that correctly. I want to make other peoples money work for me as best I can, but I want to expand out and build out this passive income stream in a extremely time efficient manner so that I can limit the time I'd spend in a Duplex and get closer to my dream home and car. I don't want to be 40 by the time I can finally say I've achieved this if I don't have to be. 

Action steps I have taken over the past two weeks: 

• Six months ago, I had a 750 credit score. However, after waiting 6 months to check it again, I found that my score was 620, down 130 points. Worried, I put a fraud alert on my report. I've since learned it was because I had 10 open student loan accounts close 7 years ago when the government took over my private student loan programs. I've since been working to remove those fraud alerts, and trying to do so has been a headache with the 3 credit bureaus. 
• I reached out to my step cousin who works at a paint shop (Sherwin Williams) and he introduced me to a local real estate investor (Mike) that owns 4 multi-family properties in shady neighborhoods, and typically buys properties for cheap ($40,000), spends $10s of thousands to repair them qualitatively, then rents them out. The approach to getting into cheap neighborhoods is off-putting though for me personally, but he's a great resource to have. 
• Mike put me in touch with a local realtor he's been working with for 10 years who owns 17 properties (Sue) and it appears she follows a similar purchasing system to Mike (buy cheap in shady neighborhoods, fix them, and rent them out). She's a really nice lady and I hope to meet her in the coming days when we look at a property I found down the road from where I live currently. 
• I feel like the people I've talked to thus far do most of the renovation work themselves, but I haven't talked to enough people that contract the work out so they're not in the weeds on a day to day as much as I'd prefer not to be. If learning how to fix up a property is valuable to start with so I know what is, and what isn't a good value for my money I mean I'm fine with it. 
• I have a meeting on Wednesday with a Credit Union whose done work for both Mike and Sue and comes highly recommended from them for help on getting loans for investment properties. I'll be bringing my W2s, 2017 Taxes, and paystubs to this meeting. 
• Finally I'll be looking at my first property with both Mike and Sue on Friday. 

My main question: Should I leverage all of my money to start, including investments, or put the $7,000 I have in liquid to work in an FHA 3.5% down (if I even qualify for that with a 620 credit score) on a cheap ($110,000) duplix/tri-plex property, keep the $79,000 I have in investments, save up what I can every month ($1,570/mo assuming $930/mo mortgage/taxes/interest), use the cheaper-labor of my brother and step-cousin while buying the required components over the course of a year while watching videos online on how to fix stuff, and/or take intellectual advantage of friends/family who know how to do various renovation work... OR should I invest 3.5% down on a quality property that I live in, and buy a second property shortly thereafter with 20% down that needs minimal/no work and begin renting that out right away. My head is on fire with possibilities haha. Any tips appreciated, sorry for the novel.