We only needed to pay earnest money and a portion of the closing fees bring upfront investment to 12-15K.

Documenting your journey online or engaging on LinkedIn can also help expand your network.

Covering the mortgage isn’t an issue, but I’m considering factors like: Multi-Family: House hacking would help offset costs right away, but I’d likely need to put money into renovations upfront.Single-Family: Easier move-in with no immediate renovations needed, plus potentially lower tenant turnover once I rent it out For those who have been in a similar situation, what did you choose and why?

If you don't you will lose a lot of money with evictions, lost payments, and vacancy.

You should have money set aside for litigation.

you can find all the info online"...it's like, no sh*t you can...all the information ever is online!

I have the money to buy now but I would rather do creative financing and use as little money as possible out of my own pocket. looking to start with BRRR method but maybe should start with a wholesale first to fund that?

This property will lose money for anyone not paying cash, and if they are paying cash they will make a very low ROI. 

They loved it because they got some play money right away and steady income each month without having to deal with toilets and tenants.

A couple months ago there was a guest on the BP money pod that said something I really liked, "put your risk in your ROTH" and by that he meant that if you're going to invest in something riskier that has the potential to have large returns, put that in your ROTH account because you're only taxed on what goes IN to your ROTH, not what comes out.