Even though the budget of the project will be about 4 times of where I was looking to start with a fix and flip, MF financing looks very encouraging and a silver lining.

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

I’m not even a lender.

It all evens out.

It sounds like you’ve been doing some serious groundwork with all the reading and research, which is such a strong start to your journey toward FI and retiring by 55.It’s awesome that you’re exploring real estate as an option, even if you’re not completely sold on being a landlord yet.

At this point, I'm not so concerned about achieving that exactly, but if my REI journey takes me there on my way to (or even after) financial freedom, then I'm all for it.There's still some work to do to prepare financially for "the first deal" and that moment legitimately appears to be about 2 years away. 

If you find something that works well as a short-term rental, but doesn't work well for you as a home, you'll have money but be dissatisfied when you live there.You don't even need it to produce a profit.

Do not simply trust a turn key provider, a wholesaler or even a real estate agent that is supposed to be looking for your best interest.

Older homes will typically have systems that are out of date - even if only partially. 

The appraiser wouldn't even allow me to meet him which I had never had happen.