If you incorporate some version of a house hack into your first purchase, you should be able to save up your next down payment exponentially quicker.A duplex is more likely to pencil once you move out of it as well here in Portland.

People who are sufficiently interested in learning how can do as I did - 30 years of University Degrees and Post Graduate Courses, and the same amount of time working as a professional in Urban and Regional Planning, Real Estate, Securities Dealing and 20 years in Corporate Finance as a lawyer. 

I don't want to see her get into debt and slave away in corporate America, or spin her wheels at some retail/service job.

I'm a one man show right now but I am trying to plan ahead and start implementing systems now for when I grow and start to incorporate VA's etc to delegate tasks.

I will incorporate the principles you've described. 

However, I also incorporate appreciation potential, price, area/rental traffic, rental history, tenant demographics, logistics, regional history, etc. and it's hard to know all that if you're not intimately familiar with the area.

I'm also going to incorporate the rest of what you've said.

Incorporate a Texas LLC having the general partner as a Wyoming LLC.

Now that I am working full-time in Corporate America, I hear and see co-workers that work until they're 60 and still do not have the means / funds to retire.

I have some solid experience in personal finance and work in corporate finance for a large publicly-traded company.