I was between places of living and I had one more semester of college to complete, so I researched good deals to house hack and asked possible roommates if they wanted to stay with me, and I made it work out.

@Carrie Purkeypile I am a landlord myself, my wife and I self manage our rentals (i tried a “professional” PM company 2 yrs ago but that didn’t work out).I also manage properties for family members that don’t live in Sacramento.I would be happy to chat and see if I can be of any help, feel free to PM me.Thanks,Nick

Work out what it will take if that is what you want to do.

If that doesn't work out, well you have a solid education to fall back on.

I also like the idea of small multi family properties which I figure are a little safer because if the numbers work out now they should still work out a year from now regardless right? 

That way, if it doesn't work out for some reason, it's a lot easier to part ways.  

keep your head up if you're starting out and everything will work out.

Send me a PM and we can work out an introduction.

I always have a paper purchase agreement with me for the meeting, even if I don't think the deal will work out.

Even if the numbers work out on this purchase (which to me it looks likely you will extract very little of your initial investment out via the refinance), you have to question if there is another property that would work better.