But if wealth building is what you want (it's what I want thats for sure) look into staying local.

I'll stay in the loop for future meet ups, and in the meantime, will stay active on here and through messaging.

Read books on investing in real estate, listen to the podcasts, attend webinars and stay active on the forums while connecting with other investors in your area and pick a niche.

He also has said they would like to stay in the house if someone wants to buy it and rent it out to them.

Stay engaged on here and you will find many open doors. 

You may find you have an "unfair advantage" which you find an interest in utilizing such as a friend or relative with some sort of interest or connection in real estate or you might find a desire to do something way outside of your comfort zone.

Obiously it would depend on the sellers comfort, but from your experience what would you suggest?

I would also be comfortable calling it "typical" :)

But really what are the odds that two applicants will be EXACTLY the same, in the end you need to feel comfortable with the person in your investment property and contrary to popular being a jerk IS NOT a protected class so discriminate at will so long as you don't violate any fair housing laws.

If the personal decision suggests staying, you can do the same on your existing home...refinance or get a HELOC on purchase a rental.In many cases, your existing personal residence does not make as good of a rental investment as many other properties would and limiting your potential investments to one property (i.e. your existing residence) is, well, very limiting.Good questions and nice work on kicking these items around.