@Tevin Russell Best of luck my friend!

@Timothy Winfield my friend who inspired me to get started said the same thing and he came from the plant world also. 

Plus, at 22, all my friend still either lived with their parents or few were renting an apartment for more than my mortgage was costing me and I was earning equity.

My friend has $30k to invest in real estate. 

@Robert Kough, I have a friend that does exactly this: buy plex, live in a couple years, after some fix up and market appreciation, refi with conventional, freeing up VA for next purchase. 

I used to work for a guru in the apartment investing space, I learned a lot and we became good friends. 

just trying to understand as my friend is trying to do that same situation...

Be-friend them.

You find them by networking (family, friends, BP, REIA meetings, colleagues, referrals). 

As far as some general criteria/thoughts:- My workplace is in the Cobb/Vinings area and I would ideally like to be a < 30 min drive to work (though I don't mind if its up to 1 hour away since that is my current commute)- I'm interested in using a FHA loan to put ~5% of a down payment (3.5% down pmt + 1.75% upfront mortgage insurance premium)- My target all-in purchase price range is between 200k - 400k - I would prefer to live in a 'A' or 'B' class property that I could rent another unit to a young or established professional/college or grad student- Just from discussion with my friends, a lot of them seem to dig living in areas like Midtown, Buckhead, Virginia Highlands, Brookhaven, Lindbergh.. how feasible would it be for me to househack in any of those areas and expect to generate a decent return in the future once I move out and rent out my unit?