I would love to convert my duplex to a triplex if possible.

Next year he's planning on buying a house so we can officially live together, but I'm gonna grind this year and stack as much as possible without permanent housing. 

I know this may sound simple and unorthodox, but I think you should try to BRRRR as much as possible.

Is it possible to purchase real estate with no money down?

. 🤔 After having the plumber come back a couple of times to try to remediate, we brought in a different plumber that provided 2 other possible remediation things we could try.

BiggerPockets also has a calculator to analyze deals, and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy.

-The mention of syndication being less risky than HML...I'd suggest it is more risk, possibly much much more since you don't know whether you are good or bad at vetting the operator right now.

In some cases, it may not be possible to purchase and store materials, but if it is, that is one way to protect your budget and avoid a costly mistake.The last thing I would offer for you to think about is having a pivot plan. 

I ended up getting the listing as an agent, but only after I exhausted all possibilities of a cash sale to one of my best investors/partners.  

Cash flow is possible if you are flexible.