Leveraging Ron's local market expertise, we secured the property for $180,000.

@John Balzowski  a lot of flippers cut corners to make their deals profitable.Many also get better acquisition prices.What's most important about any type of investing is properly understanding ALL the risks & rewards. 

Managing your own property can be rewarding but also challenging.

As for the other recommendations suggested, I would have suggested the start with one unit but I would defer to local expertise and therefore fear @Jim K. is likely correct.  

If your rental is worth $1,200 a month, offer to keep them 5% - 10% below market as a reward for their continued tenancy.

What is the recommendation of those with expertise in this situation? 

Multifamily house hacking is a CLASSIC strategy and very rewarding.

I view Gulf Shores as higher risk/higher reward - appreciation potential is definitely higher, but risk is much higher to get wiped out as well;  basic costs (rehab, insurance, etc) will be much higher as well, but so will rental amounts.  

The information was decent but with all gurus there is a lot of upselling which depending on your level of expertise, may not be worth the price. 

Leveraging Brittney's local market expertise, we secured the property for $190,000.