Unless there are local laws against it, I assume you can rent single rooms to more than one person too.In real estate deals there's always way to play the shell game to change where and from who the money comes from, but in general the seller covers all of the agent fees.

I am a gifted vocalist, songwriter, bassist and I’m currently teaching myself how to play the guitar.

tenant base etc etc.. when those things align in a positive way you will have values rise more than a few % A year I mean 3% appreciation on 100k houses does not really do much for the investor other than make their spread sheet look good.So to me you play the cards your dealt.. in some markets were the rise in values is suspect at best.. then for sure you need cash flow and a lot of it to make any sense of going through the landlord experience..  

Not many of these "investors" can afford to float the $700-1200/month they're short, plus legal fees, for a year if a tenant knows how to play the system. 

With all the people moving to Colorado, it's considered an appreciation play. The

However I play the most weight on median household income and population growth. 

and keep in mind where those folks are coming from they can buy 10 rentals for what you paid for that house and rent them for say 600 to 800 a month.. so that is their baseline and its the cards they are dealt you play the cards your market deals you.Then you have the west coast/east coast and say Denver and other higher priced markets and their  mind set. 

You just have to play the game.

Professional tenants can play the game to pay only one month of rent and stay there for more than six months for free before you can kick them out (its illegal to evict during winter months).You will need a lot of inspections to be able to rent (not that expensive but will cut your cash flow expectation if you did not know about it).I would definitely invest in France in a property that I would like to use when I retire, and getting some rent until then.Now, would I invest just for investing?

Play the long game.