Ultimately, there is no absolute answer and unique tool/strategy in anything real estate.

Ultimately it probably comes down to your personality.

We take their lunch money every year because clients ultimately don't care about the brand - it's the systems, training, communication, and people that can keep clients happy (or not.) 

But ultimately I want passive income from rentals and leave my 9-5.So I guess that strategy is called Buy & Hold.

They have a more modern view the marketplace than some of the other, more traditional outfits like MDS.When I was active in senior housing, I was the in-house feasibility study point person doing both the forensic analysis of the market and competition ultimately making the recommendation for go/no-go on a project.

SCENARIO 2):A) Parents buy the home and we live in it.QA) Is there a way to make this work that we would ultimately buy the property in our name? 

Ultimately after 2 years we would be able to get a conventional loan and pay them back.

See here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/smarterA good place to start is with the free guides, such as "The Ultimate Beginner's Guide To Real Estate Investing".

And then I'd say ultimately pick one market and really concentrate your activities in that one market.

Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free).