I know I'll have plenty more questions in the future.

Plenty of people around to help if you can find a great deal, it can come together.

However, there is plenty of room to add value.

I would be very vigilant about reporting any activities to the police so that it is logged with photographic evidence so that you have plenty of evidence when you enter the court for eviction. 

Still plenty of cash flow on 4/2’s or 5/‘2’s renting by the room

To avoid dodging your question entirely, though, $50k is plenty of down payment for a home(s) or small multi-family (depending on where you're buying.

Maybe as a temporary home for a year or so.There were plenty of advantages doing this.

When it comes to SF, MF, etc - I let the numbers do the talking - there are plenty of arguments for or against a particular strategy of course - but if cash flow is your main goal, then that is exactly what I would focus on. 

The advantage there is that SFH are far more plentiful, and there is not (quite) as much competition for them as the duplexes.  

I agree with everyone above, there are plenty of ways to find "good" deals but none is necessarily easy.