In CA where I am based out of, landlords are getting wrecked right now with little help or rights. 

I got into it in 2006 and by the time I got good at it, the crash came along and wrecked that side of the real estate business.

I bought a building, remodeled interior of building and got the rents up.... Then refinanced. I am using that money to do siding and roofing. Recently it was discovered there is a substantial horizontal crack in the f...

The idea is that if something should happen that wrecks your business, your personal finances would be unscathed, and vice versa. 

It does not help the renters if the 4-plex is foreclosed and wrecks the owners credit.

Getting tenants that are decent is a crap shoot you will most likely get ok but if you dont they can be a nightmare and wreck any profit from previous ones. 

Do not be surprised if the property is a wreck.

Another option is a fixer upper in a b grade area but from CA I think managing a value add would be hard unless your partners son got involved or you paid more for better contractors that would wreck a lot of profit.The buildings are old also consider lead paint and many are on boilers which will really matter with apartments. 

But some people are train wrecks and it has been my experience that the worst train wrecks are unemployable; they have issues that are severe enough to prevent them from finding and holding a job.

In premium areas I could see it working over 90% of the time but the other nightmare capex issue will wreck a lot of profit.