Stay at home dads are stay at home parents. 

Will a parent co-sign with you?  

I mostly help my parents, but I help other investors out whenever they need it too.

Five kids sharing 2 bedrooms (assuming none are in the bedroom with the parents) would be cozy.

Zillow is good for the school lines.Washington County Maryland is unique in that they have magnet programs at a bunch of the schools that the kids can go and less overcrowding so other than a measuring stick for crime the parents have tons of options for their kids school wise.

. $20k is very easy to come up with...go with private money, borrow some money from your parents, get a line of credit with a bank, etc., and then pay it back when you refinance.

Have you thought about partnering with your parents to get that first multi-unit to live in? 

If you have savings, you might be able to get one of your parents to co-sign a loan allowing you to buy a place and rent out the other rooms.

Obviously every kid wants to be back in school with their friends, but if there are no/fewer events, no sports, etc. then it will definitely be a decision a lot of students/parents will be making to not send their kids back to their college towns.

My parents are investors and they’ve agreed to let us use a property to obtain a HELOC.