I imagine once fully stabilized you will cashflow and live for free onsite?

Investment Info:Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

This is obviously much better than $1,400 per month.On top of that, you will now get 2x the depreciation write-off so your taxes should go down.On top of that, you will now get 2x the appreciation when real estate price go up.On top of that, your tenants are helping you pay down the loan, initially at about $100/mo for both properties, which gradually gets better and better.On top of that, you now have more units so if one or two goes vacant, you have more renters covering the losses of the vacant units.If you want to keep these properties, I would do a cash-out refi and go buy more rental real estate.

Or are you going to go the safer route for minimal time expenditure like buying a multiplex and renting out 2 out of 3 units?

I intend to rent out the units by room to college students (does it sound like this would work in this area and what are some general tips/things I should look out for?).

But to buy land just to add more units, for me is a pass.

Definitely join your local chapter of REIA (real estate investors association) or join one of the ones that are fully online (Columbus and Cincinnati).

Are the units vintage quality with in-place rents $500/mo below current market?  

I closed one for a 2-unit on the West side last week.

Otherwise, they will just end up ignoring you and you'll get frustrated. 3) Naive/newbie investors get burned all the time by only looking at the numbers - w/o fully understanding how the location/property/tenant will affect those numbers.- They often get sold Class C or D properties while using Class A assumptions - then wonder why they are losing money.Here's some copy & paste info that you hopefully find helpful:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?