@Serge Hounkponou Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

If you can get financial support to get a duplex/triplex, I would recommend this.

Many good resources here and forum post for new investors. 

Verify credit, employment, etc for you. 6) I would definitely want noise (quiet hours), guests, and treatment of common areas covered. 7) We've used Rent Manager as it focuses more on the financials which I think is super important.

Resources are endless here. 

As a professional property manager, I'm coming across an interesting trend related to institutions providing financial assistance for tenants who have trouble paying their security deposit and I would love to hear feedback from the BP community.Large PM companies have begun partnering with financial institutions, such as Rhino Insurance, to help tenants who struggle with paying their security deposit.

You could, for the purposes of verifying that you are not renting to someone who is potentially dangerous or financially incapable of shouldering the burden of being a roommate, ask them to apply through Zillow so that you can see their background check, that also gives you the opportunity to have others who might be interested in being your roommate as well, apply.

It was bought in 2004 and due to financial issues, I believe ~$197k is still owed on the mortgage.

Condition, pictures, any financials they can provide.  

However, sometimes investing is more than just the financial return.