I have seen first-hand in the form of an unexpected inheritance how a windfall at a young age can lead to long-term negative consequences.

@Kim Huard ah the age old question of to sell or hold. 

I’m currently diving into real estate investing and management, with the goal of purchasing my first rental property in the next few years.My son is graduating next year, and he has been interested in early investing since a young age.

You can also employ the periodic equal distributions rule to access your retirement funds prior to retirement age without penalties (but again, there are limitations, and you must make a commitment). 

When you combine outdated plumbing, inefficient heating systems, intertwined electrical wiring, and poorly designed layouts, you’re looking at major headaches.While some multifamily properties were originally built as rentals, the majority of available triplexes and quadplexes in my market are aging conversions that require extensive rehab.

The initial area I will focus on is in NE FL and has the following: - Population: 81K - Median HH Income: $109K - Median Age: 45 - # of HH's: 32,958 I'd like to keep my area smaller in the beginning so I can better controll marketing expenses, while avoiding spreading them too thin. 

Ranking in order though...1) Prices will drop - 10-20% because the job market is getting tougher2) Salaries will increase - 3-4% per year to keep up with inflation3) Interest rates will drop - 100-150bps as people worry less about inflation4) Unfortunately, the dream of a house with a white picket fence will be out of reach for many, especially before the age of 40.

Now I am simply trying to point out the realities of your situation.Given the age of your house, lead based paint is not the scariest chemical.  

Newer construction homes are a little easier to sell when you decide to move out or rent due to the age of construction and being more turn key.

We did this in Oregon and Washington on our properties all though the by product was Douglasfir timber which if a certain age was quite valuable.. so you wanted to log that first then use your logging roads and log landings for your building sites once the logging show was done. the other Benefit in THESE states is logging permits are separate from the county and are over the counter..