One of the main questions when starting is if you need a real estate license which you don't.

I am deciding on a few choices.

Roy Daniel the obvious choice is mfh over sfh.

You may have to get creative...find a duplex in a good area and Airbnb the units or find an SFR with a legal accessory dwelling unit and live in the smaller unit while renting out the main etc. 

My dad owned a small commercial property for nearly 50 years without an LLC, though he looked into it in the 1980's and his lawyer told him to forget it.As to mitigating risks, the main one is insurance, good landlord insurance with umbrella, preferably $2 million or greater.

The pro's and con's are mainly prrsonal decisions regarding how you choose to operate your business.

Some people do bad things when choosing what they feel is the lesser of two bad choices.

Your episode on the Podcast was actually one of my main inspirations and kick started my journey, to REI.

I think you are making a good choice by paying down a mortgage instead of paying someone else’s.One question, did you tell them you were going to put 5% down on a multifamily as an owner occupant?

In my opinion, for what it's worth :) , If your main source for deals is the MLS than you are in for a tough time.