Unless it is a new build, and it comes with purchase warranties are an extra cost and may or may not even be executed when needed depending on the circumstances. 

My goal, over the next five years, is to utilize real estate in lieu of my current hourly consulting income, by building a portfolio of rentals.  

Hey Nicholas, Building your team will be crucial.

Educate yourself with books, podcasts, and market research, define your goals, and build a team of professionals to support your journey.

I have found that I will need more networking to build the team necessary to make it a reality.

Instead of platforms like Angi, try building relationships directly with contractors, architects, and developers.

It's likely they may even use data of SFH with similar lot and building square footage.

On the flip side, if you've got a bunch of Section 8 tenants living in a building that's in a neighborhood where a lot of the tenant base has good jobs, high credit scores, and are generally reliable people, you've got the most risky tenants in that tenant base and that ain't what ya want.

Building small units in small counts is expensive development.  

I’ve just made an offer on a building and the listing commission was 3% paid by the sellers.