You'll be competing on price with owner occupants who are not running the arithmetic like an investor, so you'll often end up overpaying and losing out on any potential cashflow.I'm also 25, and it's great to see other young guys getting started and building wealth. 

How many tenants will you lose not because they didn't like the property but they didn't like your tenant selection.Remember my first point FLEXIBILITY, well if you decide to bail on the rent by the room, it is more unlikely that you can cashflow positive with a SFH than a duplex in Austin TX if you move out of the property.  

@Rafael Ramos All your goals contradict each other:(1) Cashflow: buy Class C & D properties2) Appreciation: buy Class A & B properties3) Low Crime: buy Class A & B properties4) Why would you want your investments to lose money to lower your taxes?

This is not the best way to invest in real estate as you lose out on principal pay down but it gets you instant income that you can make mostly passive by hiring out the property management.

I've seen landlords live in blissful ignorance for 5-10 years due to dumb luck, then their world comes crashing down and they lose everything.I have a book, there are some in the BP bookstore, or you can check out one of my personal favorites, Every Landlord's Legal Guide by NOLO.

The seller will lose some rent, potentially incur costs to evict, possibly costs to clean out the units depending on your sales agreement.

Because, the lender is entitled to know what risk they are taking with their money.That being said, on seller financing, if someone gets sued and loses, the lien/judgement can be filed at the county, (it's not automatic, someone has to prepare and send the paperwork) which the bureaus will pick it up on producing a credit report.

You can lose your butt out here if you don't buy right.

I know what my ideal life looks like in ten years, unfortunately, I don’t feel like I can have my ideal life now because I am having to stay in the state that I am in until we can move without risk of my husband losing custody of his child, which will be in about 10 years so believe it or not I do spend a lot of time thinking about what I want the future to be like.

That being said due to the number of sharks out there I would only spend money that I can afford to lose.