Get a stable income, job and start with going the simple route.

But if your goal is to leave your day job soon, multi family will offer more cash flow typically.

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

He did a good job but looking back on it now I think I could've done alot better with more insight and direction How did you finance this deal?

I am responsible for getting a job done .  

Alternatively, once you have a full time job (or an employment contract), you should be able to qualify for a loan and utilize a Down Payment Assistance program.

If you are kinda tech savvy and a DIY guy, you could build one yourself.

I have a good FT job in education administration, but I want to retire asap, focusing on RE (so, not really retiring, but you get the idea).

You did an excellent job summarizing your experience.

.* Work Quality: Jenny never showed up to the house, she sent 2 people instead, she never mentioned she would not show up herself, she never asked for approval to send two others instead, they did not complete the job, and there were multiple unauthorized charges on my card.* Receipts and Expenses: Once I brought to Jenny's attention that we were 20k above budget, she refused for days to give me the receipts, saying that I needed to give her my credit card statement first.