If looking purely for investment purposes townhomes and single family homes zoned for short term rental are an option and may provide a more predictable occupancy profile provided it is properly managed. 

Or, if I'm completely mistaken and single units cant be purchased by multiple people then by all means, dont hesitate to label me a bafoon!

The market I am looking at is dominated by single family homes so that is what I am looking at. 

I also help investors buy and sell single and multi-family rental properties. 

Mostly small portfolios but some single purchases.  

Markets Chang and multi-family prpty are financed differently than single-family.  

As to a balloon payment here is what that basically means: you pay x dollars for x years and at a specified time any remaining balance is due in full as a single payment.

Depending on permitting, construction time and market conditions it could take you 5-6 years to get out of that single investment. 

We took the money we saved and bought a single family house that we thought we were years away from.

Also I am specifically interested in flipping and rehabbing single family homes!