Affordable housing is still a hot topic.

Sorry for the following Contrarian advice, but you're not a 5 year old so:The only reason to buy a personal residence (Home) is because someone is forcing you to.Usually, this person is called your Spouse (which is Latin for someone who forces you to make horrible financial decisions then criticizes you for them endlessly:)perhaps DON'T buy a home, just rent something affordable and invest the 20% or in your case 50% into the stock market (sp500 16.1% yearly return last 15 years, 11% last 50 years, 10% last 125 years)remember, your RENT is your maximum monthly housing expense, but your Mortgage is your minimum or starting monthly housing cost, it always goes up from thereI've, owned 2 personal homes, 100% appreciation in 6years on #1 and in 7 years on #2, (I timed our market perfectly both times), with 20% down and very low mortgage rates, but after honestly calculating all expenses, only made about 5-6% a year "investment wise".

. $100,000 is definitely enough to acquire a long-term rental in Montgomery—it’s one of the most affordable markets in Alabama, after all.As for your concern about being unable to lease the property out, I imagine you’ll be fine.

Three beers and six hours of folding can not be my life if I want to get to my ideal volume which would be around 1-2k per month once I'm able to afford the list and the postage. 

It sure is mate,What "killed" the fun for more is scale.10+ deals per month, 30+ in house staff.Different devisions like property management, rehabs, maintenance, brokerage, building tech, personal investments, etc...Came full circle mate.Less is more and not looking to break any records nowadays.Doubled revenue and profits first 5 years lolBecame a monster with 17 heads...I want to get old like you and Jay so health and life first now hahahaJokes and love you fella's 

Besides my current rent, I still have to pay an additional $1~2000 for the mortgage, etc.Pros:Better financing rates than for investment propertiescan manage it myself to save the PM feehaving my own place without worrying about rent increasesCons:May only afford a small townhome or apartment, not sure if I still want to live there after 5 yearOption 2: Investing in Out-of-State Multifamily PropertiesI could use my cash to invest in several multifamily properties out of state and use the cash flow to cover my rent.Pros:Potential to spread risk across multiple propertiesThe cashflow can cover my rent, maybe have extra leftCons:Additional costs for property managementLimited potential for appreciationHave no experience in managing OOS property, and I am afraid it will be annoyingI’d love to hear your thoughts or any advice you might have.

Its not bad if you can afford it.

You could lease part for food service or coffee shop and some retail space, a small health club, massage. 

The real thing that will decrease housing prices is increasing supply, either by building more homes in an affordable range (and therefor probably smaller).

I will be diving into those in more details and putting together my Box based on the numbers and affordability.