Love Fire, ready, aim mentality! 

May even get dad to add me to another one of his mature lines to boost my AAoA.  

It doesn't require a lot of time, but it does require a lot mental energy, especially when things are not going well and you have to explain to other people why not.  

I loved it, it was in the price range, just under 1,000 sq ft. and there was a bunch of improvements I could make to boost the equity.

Yeah, I think it's more mental than anything - the 300k properties are in better shape and generally in higher populated areas, but if the income isn't there (it generally isn't twice cheaper properties to justify price) , it just isn't going to make sense to get something out of budget and just hope it works.

However, if this mentality is someone's inclination, I'm not sure how likely they are to actually become an investor.

You can't charge a fee or extra deposit for a service animal (either a mental or physical disability). 

As for owner occupied financially makes great sense, but mentally depending how much you can take is a different scenario.

Being able to live free or nearly free would really boost saving up for the next downpayment.Long term (5-30 years), I am more open to single-family residential as well as multifamily.I primarily want to buy-and-hold for long-term net worth gains, but would consider flips if that's all the market is providing.

I am currently building my mental model of understanding the investment property well so that I can close the deal if it does seem like an opportunity.