We've worked with local banks and been able to finance the three we own without any issues.I don't necessarily know if it's "beginner" investor friendly but you'll learn everything you need in the bootcamp which is the gold standardWe get loans with 3-7 year balloons and 25 year amortization typically

A monthly fee (typically around $5-20/mo) is added on to the payment.

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

@Thomas FarrellRecommend 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?

For a new agent to land a listing they typically over promise a seller a high price to win it and then spend money trying to find the magical buyer to purchase it.

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

I am grateful to you for sending me back to the white board. 

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.

They're not typically the highest ROI, but if you are facing a large tax bill or are having trouble finding a replacement property within the 45 day timeline, a lot of our clients will identify a DST as a backup.

Most on-market deals will likely not fit your investment criteria unless you allocate a substantial downpayment, often at least 30%-35%, or negotiate a price reduction that fits your requirements.Furthermore, while this is not the case for all metro ATL markets, my team and I typically see that a solid portion of the small multifamily space is comprised/orientated in neighborhoods of other small multifamily properties.