@Ben Morand - If I were starting today, I would buy a duplex. You are correct on some of the advantages of SFR, but this is your first one. What's most important now is minimizing your expenses IMO. You can get one with 5% down and house hack. Live and learn the business for a year or two and then you can move out and go from there determining the best strategy going forward. Freeing up your budget will help tremendously starting out and help you build momentum. My $0.02. Good luck. Either way, for the first deal, I believe its better to get started, as you will learn 1000% more doing than reading. If you were about to buy an apartment complex or something where lack of understanding is going to undo you financially, it would be different, but anyone who is listening to the podcast and reading books, etc, is still better off with just about any strategy on their first deal than the average first time home buyer.
