The low down payment house hack is the way to go.

Pre-construction homes, which could build $50-60K in equity within a year or two.I can afford a 20% down payment, but I’m torn between focusing on equity (pre-con) or cash flow (resale).

Thanks to COVID, for a couple of years, you can actually make enough money to be cash flow positive even if you hire a property manager AND have mortgage payments. 

Their insurance has asked me to return the month's payment for the remaining days of their rental (Unfortunately, I did not have a cancellation agreement).I am unsure how to handle this situation, especially since I couldn't fill the majority of the rental dates and had to offer discounts for the days I did manage to book.

I have two properties (exact same property just across the street from each other) one is a seller finance that is coming to the end of its contract for balloon payment and the other is a fix and hold Interest only loan that is also coming to the end of its contract for balloon payment.

if the note is currently in default and we can buy at at least a small discount, we may be able to restructure the note with no monthly payments - we would get paid all interest at closing when the property sells.  

House hack a 2-4 unit with the lowest down payment loan you could find. 3.5% FHA or 5% conventional.

Higher-quality areas attract tenants who are more reliable and tend to take better care of the property.

Conventional loan with a 20% down payment.

Again, I used my parents but this time only as lenders of part of the money for the down payment.