I understand this is unconventional but I have read or heard stories where investors have managed to put less than 20% down for an investment property.   

My story is similar to yours.

ii) I tend to only hear about the nightmare section 8 stories but is that the norm or outliers?

Big story.

Thank you all for your contribution be it by commenting or asking questions similar to mine.It needs to be known that I am an amateur in RE investing so this post/question is designed to help me broaden my horizon, and "see" this beast (RE INVESTING) from multiple angles and perspectives.Long story short - I have upwards of $20-$35k on hand, and I want to invest in my first property in Baltimore city or county. 

I contacted the original owner, and that's the story she gave me.I called the local county Tax Assessor that they redirected me to the local Land Commissioner because they don't keep records of taxes that's been overdue for 3 years.After talking with the Land Commissioner, overdue taxes for the last 4 years is only $380.00 but only the original owner could pay for it. 

@Kyle Jean we did get rent rolls, unfortunately we couldn't verify them, so once the deal was completed I was able to rummage through the office and found the deposit sheets that told a different story

I hope you haven't had any horror stories :-(

I have found some books just ramble on for pages and pages to the point that you learn more about their story and motivations then any actual information that could be helpful in real estate, so just want to make sure I know what I am purchasing.

Most success stories I've heard involves owning many houses and they are all at different addresses.One of the main reasons is because of the pain you experience  with a vacancy.