We are able to get great incentives and the ability to own an investment property that take a very light maintenance budget for the first few years is a huge plus.  

Very common.

Insurance is expensive, there is a lot of extra maintenance like painting or electric in common areas that don't apply as much with smaller units. 

Hoping to go down one of two paths:1- Buy a condo or small single family home and build equity and create value with my maintenance/construction background.2- Find a cash provider to do this on a larger scale with a 3-5 unit building. 

Am I correct that a condo, depending on area and neighborhood, could be a lower risk/maintenance investment for an absentee landlord as opposed to other properties?

That means weekly on going preventative maintenance fixing small problems before they become big problems. 

I imagine there’s a different dynamic with tenants sharing common spaces, so I’d love to get your insights on how to manage this aspect effectively.Thanks for sharing your experience, looking forward to learning more!

Though at 1525/mth it is projected to cashflow a little less than 100/mth  -- the numbers do not include what I like to call reality numbers (vacancy loss, maintenance, capex reserves).

10 year (the common benchmark for CRE loans) just keeps climbing.

It sounds like what you really need is a handyman that you could send out when you need for on the ground maintenance.