Why buy a fourplex, when just slotting yourself into 5+ units drops the cost per square foot by at least $100?  

Ive been using property shark to locate some sellers and have found great deals but don't want to go after them without buyer lined up.

They are the real sharks to newbies.  

Oh here is another fun simile.We as BP investors are poker sharks!  

Basically, as presented, you are working with razor thin cash flow that, in reality, will become negative due to unaccounted for costs.

But if I were you instead of trying to "go it alone" in any part of REI if you are new, find an REI club like @Nathan suggested and find someone to Mentor youe en if you arrange a small fee for a regular time slot to watch them work, an agent, an investor, whoever -- any successful person who's done successful deals and can train you how to think/look, how to select which *type* of REI might be right for you even.

Be careful with this because it would likely result in a higher mortgage payment and a negative cash flow or razor thin margins so that you can't afford even modest repairs.

Actually, we got more than our monies worth because it went over schedule by 2 hours ...Ok, that part wasn't the coolest, at least not to my dog who had his legs crossed by the time we got home :P I agree with @Luc Boiron and @Larry Smet's points, and if I may add, some parts of it vaguely reminded me of 'that time in Mexico' when I got nabbed by timeshare sharks lol Sharks and such aside, it was an incredibly informative and motivating event - and yes per @Michael Ramzy, lots and tons of note taking!! 

Be careful as there are a lot of sharks offering lease options who have no intention of selling you the property.

My favorite is the Samurai Shark.