Ryan,All three of those options are good ones, I have seen individuals build successful real estate careers utilizing those strategy.In short, option 1 is get started as an investor and option 2 & 3 are get started as an industry professional.

I would recommend splitting utility bills equally between you two as well, if everyone has buy in for the bill, they're less likely to leave the hot water running for no reason.

The landlord, my friend is elderly  and on a fixed income struggling with the property tax payments and utility costs of the unit now .

You're going to have to utilize his income to get loans...

People prefer going the syndication route also because they can utilize and leverage other peoples money and knowledge to grow their business as well. 

Ridgeview was acquired from 'mom & pop' owners and will go through an awesome value-add strategy by renovating the interior units, adding amenities, billing back utilities to tenants, and implementing a professional property management company to improve inefficiencies.

You can utilize several options. 

Finally I've done several house hack deals recently utilizing a 5% down conventional ARM loan to purchase a 3 unit as well as a 4 unit property.Starting locally by house hacking is a safer investment than going out of state.

I've seen teachers, firemen, software engineers and all sorts of people utilize both strategies successfully.

The Income approach will utilize a gross rent multiplier, versus an income capitalization approach (cap rate) approach used in commercial.But back to Dave's question: are there really no other duplex to fourplex in the area?