I invest in MA, RI and plan on investing in NH.

He could then write off that basis if the investment went to zero 

It doesn't perform well; your neighbor is a nightmare, they put more regulations, you get tired of running it etc.It may not be your first choice, but it will be a smarter investment overall, especially for newer STR investors. 

The best way to start investing with 0% down is to buy a multi-family and live in one of the units. 

Especially since I am planning on buying a multifamily home as my first investment.

I've since decided to more passively invest in real estate slowly via brrrr...

I'm new to BP and very new overall to real estate investing.

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Investment Info:Condo fix & flip investment.

A median single family home is $570,000A median townhome is $377,000A median condo is $312,000 (not a fan of these for investing purposes in our market, a whole other discussion)More quick stats:Homes went for asking price, on average this monthHomes sat about 20 days on marketSellers has 10 showings before going pendingThere are about 3,000 homes for sale, which is up 20% over this time last yearWhat I'm seeing is takes about 2-3 offers on average to get a property under contract (all depends on your aggression and strategy of course, location, etc)Overall, buyers have a lot more sway than the last few years.