I still find this hard to believe. 95% of would be real estate investors never buy a single house.

Would it be a bad idea to buy a single family home built in mid 1930's?

If you're looking for the cheapest route, conventional may be a better bet.

You may only have one single STR in SF.

If its single family I wouldnt bother with a manager but 2 or 3+ tenants in same building I would consider it depending on how hands off you want to be on the tenant issues and how handy you are

Purchase price: $186,000 Cash invested: $188,000 Bought a single family rental in West Buechel

if its a single family you'd get an appraisal called 1004 as is + arv . if its a 2 to 4 unit you'd get a 1025 as is + arv appraisal .

With a budget of $300K-$400K, you could potentially find single-family homes or small multi-units in those areas.I'd recommend researching rental demand near universities like Duke or NC State or even checking out neighborhoods with strong job growth near tech hubs.

Kyle  My father-in-law did this by creating a portfolio that is primarily debt-free single-family rentals in the city he lives in.

Purchase price: $420,000 Cash invested: $55,096 Purchased a distressed single-family home in Antioch, CA, using the BRRRR strategy to create $141,000 in equity and secure a cash-flowing rental property.