We are buying two full rehab homes for <$25k in total - our strategy is going to be to fund the rehab with a hard money loan, build equity once the rehab is complete and then refinance the homes to get out of the hard money loans. 

Why is a townhome more desirable then a condo?

They were looking for direction on where to start in the real estate process, and I tried my best to give them the information on what I would do in their shoes if they didn't have the funds to pay realtor commissions, closing costs, repairs and everything associated with getting the house sold.

I and my wife paid off all debt and save up our emergency fund, we got our finances in control and are now looking to start investing.  

It can be challenging to match up his funds amounts with the opportunities as well. 

But They seemed to specialize in providing funding through private investors which states they will take 1.65% of every profit on each investment.

From there we also discovered Afford Anything and the BP podcasts, where we realized that we wanted to go the real estate route, while still investing in low cost index funds on the side.  

I think if that happened to me I'd say "reach out to my agent to show proof of funds".  

It is in a desirable neighborhood and according to comps, has the ability to generate positive cash flow.

Bottomline, you can get solid returns w/experts, diversify better, while still not having to give up your desire to be a bit more active.