I'd love to start hosting asap and I wouldn't allow the guests access to the kitchen (though of course they'd have access to their rented rooms, bathroom etc.).

If you are able to actively use the funds I would say start a real estate marketing company with it. 

For the crowdfunding and similar platforms that are starting to rise, would the lower returns be a result of the diversification they provide or due to the different risks they come with?

Good job on getting started. 

@Abigail Kingprimarily off market although, i've started to engage on on-market deals if i think they will fitvery difficult to find

We plan on starting renovations on the unit in X (I would say a date but in reality have a 2-3 month buffer), and based on this we are no longer going to be renting the unit out.

It's pretty easy to see that real estate proces peaked around 2007-2008 and then crashed during the Great Recession.Around 2011-2012 prices started to recover and got back to their pre-Crash highs around 2015-2016, but really 2018-2019 when adjusted.So, why are newbies reading books written BEFORE 2019 and thinking that you can still successfully invest using the EXACT advice in these relatively "old" books?

There are still a lot of deals that are anywhere from 120-180k and multifamily typically starts around 200-250k.

its unfortunately not going to be as easy as googling, but that might get you a list to start with and refine.  

Stay consistent and things will start to fall into place