Hey Sammie, I actually lived in Lawton for 2 months and I don't know if you have been there, so I just want to give you my perception on what the city looks like. 

Louis and now live in the Metro East (I tell people I'm bi-lingual: I can speak "Missouri" and "Illinois").

Welcome to BP and congratulations on seeking to begin your real estate journey.Are you looking to invest, purchase a home to live in, or perhaps explore commercial properties?

You say investment but doing this long enough that is sometimes parlance for this deal might be looking like an investment but are you going to live there (owner occupied)?

If he is living paycheck to paycheck, he's probably better off paying off the mortgage (actually, he should sell the house and buy something more affordable and invest the difference). 

I'm from and currently live in Marietta, GA (NW metro Atlanta).

While you are learning and living in your first one, you want to make sure that you are keeping up with the repairs so that when you make a decision on what to do with it, you don't have a potential issue with the property you want to sell or rent when you are about to buy another.

Your zoning should be ok, but you want to do everything by the book (which can be costly) to percent future insurance claims or injury claims in an unpermitted basement living space. 

Live in one unit and update it while you rent the other unit, then once that is vacant, move into that one and repeat.With renos, don't go overboard especially if it is a rental. 

You'll offset your own living expenses, you can do it for very little down and you'll get some experience landlording and understanding how the tax savings and depreciation work.