There is a ton of older housing stock in Somerville and last thing you want is to redo upgrades and renovations.

For them, real estate is an investment like stocks and bonds.

This comes with it's pros and cons but I don't see that as a bad option. or...I was also thinking of staying with my parents another year or 2, stock piling cash from the house flipping I do with my parents business, and then save up enough to buy a 8+ unit building to rent out.

For this reason stocks, REITS, partnerships etc do not work for 1031. 

Short answer, if the property does not pay a dividend that is equivalent to buying stock that doesn't.

Deal flow is king in this market and you either need to have it or to invest with someone who does.Done correctly, passive investing does not simplify life during your learning curve but it does afterwards.If you can predict economic cycles, forget about real estate and short (or long) the stock market...much easier than messing with REI.Stick with good sponsors, cash flow, add value, prudent debt, and reserves...good recipe at any point in the cycle.And if you are investing passively, consider assets classes other than just MF.

Have saved up about $100k+, could be more if I sell off some stock, and am looking at the Bronx as a market (maybe nearby NJ, but have heard it can be tough with property tax so high in NJ).

Wow a lot of projects on the go, I'm not afraid of hard work as it usually offers much better returns, only exception being Amazon as I probably would've made more just investing in the stock in 2013 compared to selling on the platform! 

Usually older stock homes that need a lot of work.

If they are comfortable with income/wealth, better motivations would be a redeployment of capital or investing in stocks/bonds?