As an Accountant and CFO with two decades of experience in real estate management, I’ve observed that landlords often handle things differently.

I would focus on a duplex first so you learn house hacking and management of one tenant.

Quote from @Kody Smith: without getting too deep into my finances, what my strategy is...1. take loans to buy properties (leverage)2. fix/flip for day to day cash flow income3. use some of the fix/flip income to buy consistent cash flow through:- business acquisition, - commercial properties (MF and store fronts),I have no intention of doing ALL of the management myself, I will hire management as needed (medium term goal)my expected core role is money provider, evaluating the numbers, making decisions, and connecting with investors, wholesalers, lenders, contractors, and property owners.while I am just on step 2 of the journey, I am looking toward step 3 to stabilize, and not worry about if house prices drop mid project or not (or not worry as much) So to be fair this is more about obtaining and growing a real estate business not simply buying rentals for cashflow.

My markup is always lower than the original lender's because I don't spend money advertising during the Super Bowl, my president doesn't have a corporate jet, and we don't have layers of management we need to pay.

Based on a quick answer from Perplexity it seems like there would be no issue with you buying the home and collecting passive income, but you may not be allowed to manage it yourself since that is considered active work.

Turning the management of the rental over to a property manager can relive a lot of these issues.

Over time, rents may increase, improving your cash flow, and you’ll gain equity and valuable experience managing tenants and property operations.

Your reserves should be part of the expense calculation: PITI, maintenance, capex, vacancy, property management, etc.

You’ll want to invest in areas that have tenant interest but also aren't on the extreme end of neighborhood quality—this means avoiding the very toughest spots, where turnover can be high and managing tenants can be difficult.

Ask yourself would you invest your money with an 18 year old new investor with no experience buying, or managing investment real estate?