Live below your means and work on getting a duplex (or a single family home and rent all the rooms to your frat brothers) and start from there. 

., "I will buy at least one single-family home, duplex, triplex, or fourplex before the end of 2019") and then do it.

Back wall adjoining neighbors are starting to accumulate junk up and piling up and over the fence.

But my first goal is to buy my first duplex and rent it out this year it cannot be later, like I mentioned it's a requirement for me.

-Have enough room in the back of the lot to add a new duplex (zoned appropriately, etc).

We have did some rehabbing for our duplex rental 

Starting with a house hack or duplex hack is a good way to get started and have a place to live.

I started off with a duplex in 2020 and now have a solid portfolio of rentals with my partner.

For example my simple spruce up would be, renno bathroom, and kitchen, paint, and redo carpet upstairs.But if i think real deep into what I could do to make it a STUNNER then I think, knock down walls, create more open/broken floor plan, add central air, possibly do an addition to add a 3rd bedroom and second bath.So when you could do ANYTHING .. how do you draw the line of what you should do?

Working on my first duplex, almost done.