(If curious, my residential real estate investor clients from 10 years ago [you can find my 10 year old bigger pockets dot com posts :], at the time buying up 2-4 unit properties, a lot of them are now done with the 'human' tenants and want to 1031 into something that is ACTUALLY passive, so yes Starbucks comes up, thus I watch it).In my case I zoomed all the way into a specific brand (which then allows me to make very sweeping generalizations across an entire state -- but still not the entire country), I'm not suggesting you do that, but SOME of the variables need to be narrowed down, before you can gain any useful insights. 

The way I see it is 25% down out of state means $100k in down payment/closing cost to obtain turnkey property that gains equity similar to an IRA or 5% down managing a renovation in the property your living in which in turn pays yourself from the equity gains which allows you to get to multiple house hacks very fast. 

When I die, they can keep renting out the properties or move into the SFH, or take the step up basis and sell it with not as high of a capital gains tax hit (I hope they wouldn't choose the 3rd option).

If family lives in the main home and friends stay for free in the garage, the property remains a primary residence, but there’s no rental income or tax benefits.

I’ve gained access to the basement and didn’t detect any foundation issues.

It is expensive and will take 3+ years to recover the cost but then the benefit is unlimited to me.

What does he consider a substantial down payment and does he know that he has to pay capital gains on that down payment instead of just on the payments?

The three ways to handle the risk are (1) gaining knowledge and experience in both investment in general and in the area you’re investing in specifically (2) extensive due diligence and when the inevitable bad outcomes occur despite (1) and (2) then (3) diversification.  

I rely on personal care assistants (PCAs) for daily help, which are fortunately covered by government benefits.

Some benefits of early-yearly homework.