Any of these deals thats a 5 figure buy in and a split you have to think twice about.

I was thinking to buy the right place and lease it out instead.

Buy a nice house with an ADU or a DADU?

Make them based on what your tenants need (not want) which would also allow for them to customize (furniture use) to their tastes.I wrote a book on this a number of years ago that touches on a lot of these things, but it was focused on my specialty, "Energy Efficient, cost effective homes". 

We are looking at buying a park model home and land.

Let's say you could rent an apartment instead of buying and your rent is $1,200/month.

We were thinking of buying in Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, IN and Salt Lake city.

@Jake BerlinCongratulations on taking the first steps toward buying your first rental property!

Someone else found the deal and was going to be the primary operator, and he needed several million dollars to buy the property, and was having trouble raising money. 

Currently buying a property in Cleveland and need to explore financing options.