I have been offered a short sale on a 4plex, run the numbers and it looks like a good single or double (not a home run) which for me is fine but i have no experience in this area.

Just keying that many entries would consume days, maybe a week even, every single month. 

She owns a nice single family home that I can live in at minimal expense.  

I provide my network of investors with a private list of 10 - 15 off-market single family investment properties around the greater Tampa Bay area each month.I also buy properties in any condition.Between my colleagues and I, we have quite a network of contacts to provide as a resource to you. 

I am a new part time real estate investor having just finished my 1st buy, rehab, and rent of a small single family home in Tacoma, WA.  

On paper I was skeptical at first but it is working out, 7 months later not a single issue.

For forty years I have bought and managed properties for my own account. I still have the first house I bought. In 2006 I wrote the best seller Building Wealth One House at a Time and just rewrote it. The 2nd Edition ...

I would lean towards solid multi family homes over single family. 

Naturally, we charge a higher rent ($450 - $500/month) when renting by the room than if we let an entire house on a single lease ($360 - $425 per room per month): since we are carrying the utilities, have more administrative overhead and have to deal with housemate drama.

Where realtor.com will show you a map, and zillow will show you off market homes they consider similar, redfin will actually show recently sold comps as thumbnails so you can narrow it down at a glance (for example if your house is single story with no garage you can ignore two-story houses with garages).