Quote from @Devin James: When running numbers on an investment property, I focus more on equity growth than monthly cash flow.Here’s why:If I can acquire a property at a low basis and add significant value, I can: 1) Sell and reinvest elsewhere 2) Cash-out refinance to recapture my investment.

But, if steady long term cashflow is a goal, with no management, one can always sell farm land on a low down private contract.

If you intend on putting in 50 low ball offers a month, make sure your Realtor knows and is ok with that amount of legwork (because it's a lot).

If you want low, safe returns that are truly passive, invest in the stock market.  

I was able to figure out that they had come upon some hard times and were significantly low on cash.

I am no expert by any means but I thought I would drop my opinion here. 1) Should I focus on duplex since they're most likely less expensive in my area in category A or B properties, or aim for more units?

And someone jumping into this as a complete newbie can expect that they have a decent chance of making some expensive newbie mistakes.

RE is expensive

You're buying low quality assets that are not going to appreciate like you want them to.

Looking at this mathematically, if you assume a 50% non-renewal rate (industry standard) and use the low end of the range of $5,000 per non-renewal, there is a loss of $50,000 per year on a 20 unit property.