I also intend to owner occupyI was thinking if there is a small studio or even a garage within the four plex ,that should cover the IRA part and the rent from that studio/garage can be accounted and deposited directly into the IRA account please advisethanksFollowing - I'm based in the Easy Bay.  

Another good choice is Matthews, 25 minutes southeast of Uptown, which has a walkable downtown area with a small selection of restaurants, bars, and coffee shops.Traffic is something to keep in mind, as Charlotte is growing fast.

They began their company, Magnolia, years ago as a house flipping business and a small gift shop that they still own and sell products out of.

It's a great starter book for the financial foundations of real estate investing: https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/set-for-life-revise...I would also recommend Small and Mighty by Chad Carson: https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/small-and-mighty-re...Real Estate Rookie: https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/real-estate-rookieHouse Hacking: https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/the-house-hacking-s...

We would be open to small multi family in the future.

I don't think the market is a huge factor UNLESS its a SMALL/rural market where filling a vacancy could take longer because of low/inconsistent demand. 2.

I was told you could use the TREC contract for residential and small multi-family (2-4 units).

Other small things I do besides leasing, mangement, some maintenance, are installing keypads to doors, programming gate remotes, garage remotes, doing walk throughs, doing walk through videos (15-20 mins move in/move out videos), advertising videos, take care of our website, our portal, fix the gates and cameras when they go out, just like everything you can think of.   

California is NOT one of those states that exempts this type of lending.. there might be a small carve out for a few loans a year privately done but if you hold yourself out as a lender your need a license.

Start small, learn tenant management, and don't wait for the perfect market.Good luck!