I was able to rent the property by room and it cash flows about $200/month so far.

It’s also worth considering a multi-family property for your first deal since it can help with cash flow.

Hey Sam,Congratulations, hopefully you can work something out.My recommendation would be working with a lender that is comfortable with seller financing and keep your cash to close at a minimum.

The structure will depend on the down payment, quality of borrower, terms of note, your cash out of the note sale needs, and other factors. 

Quote from @Brendan Jones: I am very new to learning about real estate and am looking for advice on my first home and how I can best use it to help offset my mortgage and generate cash flow.

The big stuff is gone and if anything does come available Mom and Pop know what it is worth. 

“ cash flow returns” almost always compare horribly to a simple bank CD after you deduct for insurance, prop taxes< vacancy, capex, prop management (or your personal time.) etc etc etc. 

We are not too strapped for cash, but it always seems better to have more in the bank than less.

Was it worth the sacrifice?  

You're netting $5k/mo and have no cash available and you're working a civil engineering job?