I love it when owners are there, as I get them to spill the beans and learn their hot buttons. 

With multi-family, you have multiple income streams and it’s unlikely that all will stop at once.Another signal to pay attention to is that there are numerous examples of people on BP (myself included) who started with single family homes but have subsequently moved on to larger commercial deals, often via syndicates.

It's challenging enough to run a short term rental, it's far more of a hospitality business than a passive income stream.

I'm more of a grey squirrel type investor, wanting lots of streams in case one or several go bad.

This lets you keep the income stream, and access the equity.

Assess the stability of the income streams that the property is projected to generate.Assess operating expenses: Carefully analyze the operating expenses associated with the property.

However if one has systems in place to efficiently and cost effectively handle preventative maintenance and tenant retention as well as has an alternate revenue stream, such as employment or dividends then this can mitigate much of the risk in a leveraged path.

It is very smart to have several streams of income - do both until you are financially independent. 

Back when my wife and I were living in CT I started reading up on real estate and rental properties as most people looking to start another stream of income do.

@scott mac made my coffee spill...Laundry room- not a coin operated one but fluff and fold with a person.On site manager can: sell locks, loan tools for a fee, sell candy or soda machine, babysitting, rent bikes, rent ebikes, sell rolling baskets, sell or rent wagons (radio flyer or the canvas ones), rent out a pick up truck, sell security devices, sell mini air conditioners...Most these things require a person to be on site to stock, secure, and sell the items.Saturday bbq for sale plate of whatever Rent parking spaces.