I told them my buy box multiple times and would still get "leads" that didn't even fit my criteria.

You could deploy that money elsewhere and buy a few  smaller (or at least less expensive) homes in a friendlier market and come out way ahead unless you are content with just waiting for the market to appreciate.  

MY SUGGESTION: invest in yourself by buying hard copy books and training on the foundation topics you wish to develop skills (RE legal, title, escrow, financing, notes, etc.).

I would much rather not buy anything less than a 2 bdr, but i'm also seeing  1 bdr condos for about the same price but in nicer areas.    

@Adam ShaIf you can buy a home for cheaper than rent then that is a red flag.

Buy and hold notes (performing and non performing)3.

If you were able to buy 2 duplexes as replacements then you would own MORE property so that any market appreciation is magnified and you might have MORE loan principle to pay down further building wealth that you don't see just by looking at cash-flow. 

I say this even as I believe SFR dips this current year--which means it's a buying opportunity-- because I believe as much as mortgage "demand increases".

One court case says that you don't have a business until you buy your first property.

We’d also like to buy a house to move into in the near future and of course dropping $100k of savings into property 2 would delay that.