I am trying to go into this investment with the mindset that we are making passive income first, gaining equity second, and whatever we get appreciation wise is icing on the cake. 

This would mean you took 30 years to gain a big $425,000...minus closing costs, commissions, etc...  

With a small starting amount like that, you will gain a much higher return on the knowledge accumulated from researching the equities than you will from the actual dividend stream itself.

Then once you gain experience start venturing into other markets.

Right now I am gaining information to learn my strategy.

I'd also like to add, my goals are to get into larger apartment complexes mainly for scalability and gain $20k+ a month in passive income. 

I recently got my real estate license and would like to keep learning and gaining experience in real estate.

Just don't quit your day job just yet--once your business gains some traction and is earning you money, and the day job is costing you more than its earning you, that's the time to take a serious look at your next career move.As to all of the investment options, you have to pick the one that best fits your objectives and works in your market.

I m not against lower end properties, but you must keep enough to balance the losses with the gains.

@Patrick Liska thank you very much sir for your advice this is why I came to this site to gain knowledge from people that have been doing this far longer than myself  I truly appreciate it