Renting to your mother would make it an investment property and eligible for a 1031 exchange.There is no statutory requirement for income production to make a property eligible for a 1031 exchange.  

Initial cash flow has a poor correlation with achieved cash flow over a long hold.  

I recently got out of the Army, and I picked up Rich Dad Poor Dad.

Two books that would be great reads since you're just starting out would be Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and How to Invest in Real Estate: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Getting Started by Brandon Turner and Joshua Dorkin. 

Better quality product, better installation, and making relationships is invaluable if you plan to scale.

While I agree with what Noah shared about the individual with millions in the bank being able to make the $10K risky investment without a poor outcome impacting them, the capital raisers are not going to the investors with millions in the bank.

(We personally do portfolio and single property loans and will be adding a HELOC product soon!)

(the way the conventional mortgage was a root canal)I am probably going to pay cash for the property upfront and then finance it after the close, so I have some time to explore financing products. 

To avoid going through the same poor experience, keep reading.Even if someone gives you a referral here, do NOT make the mistake of assuming that the PMC will meet your expectations, just because they met the expectations of the referral source.In our experience, the #1 mistake owners make when selecting a Property Management Company (PMC) is ASSUMING instead of CONFIRMING.It's often a case of not doing enough research, as they don't know what they don't know!

Listen to his podcast.I'd probably read all the Rich Dad Poor Dad books....multiple times.No matter if you like him or not, I think I would read every Donald Trump book.If Sam Zell ever wrote a book I would read that.