I myself am looking to secure my first deal in northern Arizona and look forward to reading the responses from experienced investors here. 

I've been reading books on the subject (Small and Might Real estate investor) and listening to the BP podcasts for a few months now, and I was initially very excited about finding a multi-family property to start out, in order to maximize my leverage against an FHA loan.

After reading one of Brandon Turners books, I would like to invest into a house hack for my first deal.

At this point I am reading books, saving money, and looking to make relationships in the investment community.

I’ve read Kiyosaki’s books, too, and they completely shifted the way I think about money and investing—such a game changer.

I've been reading and looking up videos and I'm just not confident yet to pull the trigger on a property.

1) I think it’s “funny” that not one news article I ever read for the last 5 years had headlines like “Housing at historical record lows!

I came across one of these loan agreements online somewhere a few months ago, can't recall where I found it but it was clear in reading the loan agreement there was no language referencing the loan actually encumbering real property, it was just an unsecured loan.  

I've read numerous guides and watched many YouTube videos, so I have a good theoretical understanding, but I'm still unsure about the best way to start investing in U.S. real estate.My plan is to begin with long-term rental properties and then eventually move into flipping and the BRRR (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat) strategy.

It does appear that we need more information about actual ability to pay the rent but in reading between the lines it appears that there will be two more adults living in the property, so we have more information to gather.