Had some cash saved up from working a full-time job in logistics and a part-time job teaching tennis, and bought a fixer-upper for $29,000 with a tenant in place at $700 (sounds like the $30,000 pig, right?)

For you first larger multi-family property, I would focus on areas that have proved to have rent stability, overall low capital improvement requirements, and a record of property appreciation over simply going for a property that gives you the largest forecast returns.  

So far we have filled one unit with two tenants that meet all requirements, and a second where the husband had a credit score slightly below 600 but the wife had a credit score of 700+ and income was well over the 3x criteria.  

They will get swamped with contractors and as the business opens back up they will have to hire someone.

But only way to do it is to have a team in place who I trust, including property management and a contractor.

My mom wants to partner with me and buy property together since she has perfect credit and a better chance at being taken seriously by the banks that will give us a mortgage. we are going to go 50/50 on the down payment and all expenses/maintenance. we will be getting an fha loan and putting 3.5% down which will allow us to have a big emergency fund.

There will be closing costs and a funding fee that you can wrap into the VA loan if you wish.

This may not be the most appropriate forum for this topic, but there are several other posts going with the same topic and a lot of good and pertinent info being shared.https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/481926-hurricane-harvey-now-what?

Myself and a friend are looking to get into real estate investing, specifically buy and hold or flipping, and we've been doing our due diligence over the past few months listening to podcasts, reading books, etc.  

A win for the investor (which can only be determined by finding out what their needs are for being a part of this and nailing it), a win for you (purchasing an asset using someone else's money), and a win for the tenants you are housing (making sure you take care of each and every tenant ethically and with respect).