I want to get a multi family house live in it and hopefully rent out a portion of it to cover my mortgage and even profit if possible.

The seller accepted the offer we made which was thousands lower than asking and also agreed to pay a healthy portion towards closing cost.  

I am trying to gather some information regarding the size of the real estate hard money market nationwide and by region.

I would probably ask for 2 determination letters - the latest property inspection findings/report and the latest financial determination of the tenant to see what portion of the rent they are responsible for.  

Do 2bed/2 bath units of the sane size as mine work as a baseline. 

I am in the in between size where setting up a large system doesn't seem reasonable, but you are spending a lot of time managing. 

Lodger has verbally agreed to surrender premises (mailed back keys from jail) and but stated since has no living family members available, requested his security deposit back and month to month storage of personal property (passport, social security card, US Army Veteran Honorable Discharge paper, about 5 suitcases of clothing and a couple milkcrate size boxes of misc personal belongings, that's it).

The sole purpose is to identify and acquire 4+ bedroom properties to rent to college students and collect rent per room (research shows that rooms can rent anywhere from $400-$600 depending on size and condition of rooms/home). 

As well as having a local trusted property manager.No one size fits all to investing - but my suggestion would be to build relationships and then invest with or through them.Good luck with your decisions and investments!

The size of the tank matters, find out how many gallons it could hold and how full it is.