Quote from @Mitchell Coles: In Ohio, property liens are typically recorded at the county level, making the County Recorder's Office a valuable resource for property research.

A typical snake is configured for 100 feet.Call another plumber and get a video of your sewer line.

Both investments can offer tax benefits, but real estate typically has the edge.

Unfortunately. this is typically considered normal wear and tear.

House hacking locally is typically going to be the least risky way to get started, even if it is more expensive of a property.

The ARV on small multifamily can be a bit tricky as most appraisers will like to use the comparable approach as to an income/NOI approach typically used by larger (5+) multifamily properties.

It's mostly Class A properties, a few Class B.You may find the below copy & paste info useful in addressing your question:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Since you have 488 sqft, I'm assuming that you have extended the existing (typically 400 sf) garage? 

Sometimes hard to find this happy medium in rate sheets, though.Another consideration would be taxes - points are typically treated as interest, so if your tax obligations are high this year vs being higher in the future, then this could also impact buying down now vs paying a little more in interest in future years. 

Deduct NEW property taxes after you buyDeduct home insurance costsDeduct maintenance percentage, typically 10%Deduct vacancy+tenant nonperformance percentage(we recommend 5% for Class A, 10% Class B, 20% Class C, good luck with Class D)Deduct whatever dollar/percentage of cashflow you wantNow, what you have left over is the amount for debt service.Enter it into a mortgage calculator, with current interest rate for an investment property, to determine your maximum mortgage amount.Divide the mortgage amount by either 75% or 80%, depending on the required down payment percentage - this is your tentative price to offer.If the property needs repairs, you'll want to deduct 110%-120% of the estimated repairs from this amount.Be sure to also research the ARV and make sure it's 10-20% higher than your tentative purchase price.As long as the ARV checks out, this is the purchase price to offer.It is probably significantly below the asking price.