With 20 years of experience managing 30+ long-term rentals, a few STRs, and running a property management company in Central Florida, I’ve learned both have their place in a portfolio if you diversify based on your risk tolerance and the timing for your goals.

It all really depends on your appetite for risk.

Best advice is to learn from others and take calculated risks.

For an absentee landlord, it would seem that a condo could have less maintenance headaches than a SFH and lower risk in general. 

Advantages - greater return and greater risk than investing in say a private lending fund.

While I could have gone lower I am lowering my risk tolerance because I expect a recession in late 2019 to 2020.

It’s also great that you already have equity in your primary residence and cash available—those are valuable resources for getting started.If you’re considering a multifamily property, house hacking could be a great way to dip your toes into investing while minimizing risks.

Additionally, add in the ambiguity/risk of the due on sale clause or ramifications on the conventional loan of transferring the property from your individual name to an LLC - the economics don't make sense, and the headache isn't worth it even if it did, in my opinion!

. :)We definitely want to invest in true vacation rentals as well but this will be a good learning process with not as much risk to start.  

Simply put the risk of a non-renewal costs more.