I am not sure its the rate of return that entices them all the time, I generally think they simply do not understand the risks and or do not have deal flow to find the safer 1st position loans given the smaller amounts of money that they have to invest..

Over time, a good bet would be to save up enough to find a two-family to house hack with lower money down and move there and rent out this one you own outright which would cash flow nicely. 2-1 single-families can be great for mid-term rentals as well which can 1.4-2.5 your cash flow.

Hi Tanjaree, here is what I found for the Waco metro area:Here are my rankings for zip codes in the metro area from best to worst-1.76706 (Waco) 2.76638 (Crawford) 3.76710 (Waco) 4.76630 (Bruceville) 5.76704 (Waco) 6.76640 (Elm Mott) 7.76708 (Waco) 8.76633 (China Spring) 9.76712 (Woodway) 10.76657 (McGregor) 11.76701 (Waco) 12.76691 (West) 13.76705 (Waco) 14.76655 (Lorena) 15.76643 (Hewitt) 16.76707 (Waco) 17.76711 (Waco) 18.76557 (Moody) 19.76682 (Riesel) 20.76524 (Eddy) 21.76624 (Axtell) 22.76664 (Mart) 23.76654 (Leroy)The Waco Metro also rates slightly above average compared to the rest of the state, making it a fairly safe bet as far as Texas goes. 

And lastly College towns are an easy bet since there are three large colleges in the Three biggest cites in CO!

Anything "public" is way way way way safer.

When buying your first rental property, or any, you probably should not bet on rents going up 4% per year.

I bet your ac is set below 80. 

I bet you're getting a lot of hands-on experience with those.Feel free to ask any questions you have about investing or share your experiences as you start your journey.

Ultimately your bet in keeping it is that expenses (hoa fees) stay flat and you see higher appreciation (especially in rent prices) over the next several years.

I bet you already know someone that owns investment property, only they don't "appear" wealthy.Keep working (get a W2 job, or start your own business doing something that will get you around real estate), keep talking, and lead with service.