I'm starting to get a general idea of how I should look for a property that would be good to purchase, renovate, then rent out.

Selling it at this time would be a tough call for me due to the positive cash flow + good tenant.Thanks for the idea.

It is a good idea to get started early.

As Joel mentions, assume you have a meetup and general ideas are shared and there seems to be a willingness and match, then a partnership agreement would be smart.Secondly, what are you working on to prepare yourself to purchase a small apartment unit ?  

Jen Anderson , in regards to the property, NJ is a very large state so saying it is 35 mins away does not give a good idea of where it is and there are some developers that only focus on a specific county or even town.

This truly gives an idea of what interest rate you were paying yourself over the term of the deal.

I agree, checking out your local reia, which for us is SJREIA.org, is a great idea.

I like m-m's and have a few that have gone on for over a decade that way.Here in the north, coming up vacant in the middle of winter is never a good idea.  

Now there are obviously many other ways to find deals and if you want a more detailed approach feel free to PM me and I will give you a more specific ideas based on your more detailed picture of what you want to do. 

I do prefer the duplex idea but I have struggled to find them in areas that I would consider living in.