I would look for a 2 bedroom 2 bath duplex with a one car garage for each side located between the two units and each front porch on the each end of the building.  

I have decided that I don't want to build a real estate empire but rather generate that cashflow from as few properties as possible. 

Ok, so I see this might have been a design flaw in the original build so there isn't much you can do unless you rip it all out.You could have it all scoped and see what's what so you can get an idea of what you are dealing with.You could comp the guests a night.

Given that my unit is sandwiched between two others, could this be a structural issue affecting the whole building?

My love affair with real estate derived from my late mom who had a passion for buying real estate to build wealth.

Building a strong financial plan, researching markets, assembling a reliable team, and having an exit strategy are essential steps to success.Good luck!

If you are going to self manage you will need to build business systems and get a list of reliable vendors.  

You will build up cash on a monthly basis that could be used to invest other places either rental properties or the stock market. 

We are going to look at a 5 room apartment building next week for STR and MTR use.

As a beginner investor based in the Seattle metro area, I'm eager to learn from your experiences and share my journey as I get started in this field.My current strategy is to focus on live-and-flip for the first three deals (looking for my second deal) to gain hands-on experience while building equity and learning the ins and outs of renovation and the local market.