If you want a deal, you will need to buy and rehab, you will need to buy what others cant, Personally I love houses that have frozen and burst plumbing, or carpets torn out, or even better they are selling without interior access, thats all money to me, but not advisable to a beginner. best of luck.   

I currently have a 1 year lease on an apartment and was wondering what a good loan would be that wouldn’t require me to live on the property for the first year.

I am a realtor and have a buyer looking for a multi-family apartment complex.

I think you can gain a lot of exposure by joining local apartment owners association.

He had a lousy PM, longterm vacancies on the largest apartment & the tenants he had were intermittent paying lowlifes & he was bleeding a lot of cash.

Store front, 2 apartments.

But this would wipe out all our capital AND we would still be paying $1700/month in rent for our current apartment (we are first time home buyers).

There are many speed bumps, deals that just fall apart, and people who change their mind on you along the way.

You typically get access to the gym, tennis courts, and dinning facilities. 

And in an old place like this, you gotta do the whole building because knob and tube is going to always knock out something else when you do one apartment.