Hello,My friend and I would like to get into long distance real estate investing (ideally a multifamily in the PA area).

Ideally it would be less cash out of pocket but even at that budget I have been really struggling to figure out how to start.

@Trevor ToftPlease don't base this decision on a Zestimate it's very surprising the value only increased around 26% (2020-2024), I do not know your market but do your homework and contact an agent and ideally an appraiser you trust to get a real valuation.  

It's not ideal if the property already has tenants but that doesn't mean you shouldn't purchase it either.

If I were to buy my second property in the future, I would ideally like for it to be a duplex, triplex, quadruplex so that I can move into one of the units, rent out the others, and also rent out my first property fully.After doing more thinking and math, my other strategy is that I could go invest that $1000 into the market (which makes me a higher return than 4.875%) as well as rent out the two extra rooms that are currently not to aid in paying off my mortgage.I am wondering what y'alls thoughts are on these two strategies?

Ideally I would like to quit my job and focus on real estate full time but unsure of how to navigate that as a military family.

Yes, the rate on beach house is lower, to your point, so it’s not ideal times to refi at all.  1) Yes, I’m able to cover all expenses now.

Ideally you (the lender) would be a passive partner in the company, take a percentage of the net profit from each deal, and not be involved in the day to day operations.

@Kevin Paulk This is ideally what I want to work towards.

Both recommended a Wyoming Trust over a Holding Company over each LLC (ideally one per property).