MF vs SF Strategy In San Antonio

[Norense Iyahen]

Hi folks I'm trying to better understand MF investing and possibly develop a strategy that makes sense if it's the right path for me.

So there seems to be a sentiment in the real estate investing space that it's best to get into multi family at some point. The reasons appear to make sense in theory - less risk from vacancy in particular, less expenses (but I'd be happy if someone can shed some light on this). However, I've been looking on the MLS-linked sites at multi families in San Antonio and running my numbers, and I'm wondering if this sentiment that MFs are better than SFs in San Antonio holds.

For instance, the quads I'm seeing have downpayment of over 120,000 and up (assuming 20 % down), and cash flowing $800 per month. Honestly,this doesn't look very attractive from a cash flow perspective giving the large downpayment. Where I struggle is that with the same $120,000, I can get over $1,000 in cash flow from going the SF route in similar parts of the city.  Given this, I'm wondering if MFs are a better deal than SFs in SA. My understanding is that you can also force appreciation more in SFs than MFs. So if there is greater potential  appreciation and more cash flow in SFs than MFs, is there really a strong argument for MFs over SFs in SA? Or is the main  argument for MFs over SFs that an investor can gain experience with say a quad and then move on to a >4 unit apartment complex - so potential grow really big eventually?

I realise I'm simplifying in the above with my numbers - but these are  meant just as examples. Plus, I'm taking the perspective of an investor who isnt so concerned with reaching the limit of 10 rentals from conventional lending.

For the MF investors in SA, is there more that I should think about as I look into MF investing and developing a strategy in SA?