One more tip hit town homes and condo communities in the area.

He'll still be renting - just from you instead of others, and at all the costs to you that you have enumerated.Your son doesn't "need" to buy a house.  

Similarly, if you put several Class D tenants in a Class A 4-plex, what do you think will happen to the property?

You came to the right place to learn more about real estate investing!

If it were to go to foreclosure would it go for $180k?

I listen to the problem solving episodes for the same reasons I read forum posts.

Paul has started at least 3 separate threads in the past few days announcing to the world the success he's having with section 8 rentals and repeatedly reminds us he doesn't have a clue how to calculate the true operational costs associated with these properties. 

The idea is simple: purchase a property, live in one part, and rent out the rest to offset your mortgage or even generate profit.

Think Good Deals Are Hard to Find?

Then you can read a more in-depth book like The Book On Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner or The Unofficial Guide to Real Estate Investing by Spencer Strauss.2.