If you are starting out with single family and self managing that would be very difficult and costly to manage, imo.  

Step away from this nonsense.Unless she has a source of income to actually buy this, that she hasn't declared to the local housing authority, I will bet that she wants to use her Section 8 deposits to  you to purchase the house. and if she hasn't declared her extra income to section 8, then she's just defrauding the system.You can either say "no" directly to her, or just say that you still have a mortgage and you can't enter into a lease purchase agreement for at least another 12 years.

We hold monthly meetings where the following topics may be discussed: getting started, market research, deal analysis, single family investing, multifamily investing, investing in the Bay Area, out-of-state investing, real estate market cycles, fundraising, legal structures, taxes, current trends, etc.

Hello All,In the past I have had issues with tenants applying to live in the apartments as a single individual.

You also have enough to buy low balance 2nd mortgages however that is only worthwhile if you have good risk tolerance, since things can easily go wrong on a single note (risk is spread by buying multiple notes).My first note was 16k, and I lost a ton of money.Second was 4.6k and made tonsThird was 2.3k and made 22k-ish profit4th was 7k and earns about 25% returnSo with 20k you can get into notes, but you have more risks.

I know that leaning on the idea of appreciation veers toward speculation, but in Westchester its a pretty good bet that the property will appreciate pretty significantly. 

I bet your local McDonald's isn't running on a MTM lease.

I am a first time home buyer looking to purchase a single family home I can live in for a few years then turn into a rental property.

I have to agree that hardwood is great for a single family unit; they tend to stay longer giving you time to recoup your investment.

I own single, multifamily and commercial properties here in toledo, only one of my properties falls in the range of needing to be inspected and lead safe.