Next I'd like to pick up a single family home or mobile and get a renter in it?

Buy silver & mobile home parks.I highly respect Peter Schiff & have discusses this with him.

The best form of affordable housing in the country is mobile home parks.

When we are outward focused, instead of inward focused, we can engage in more meaningful activities, situations, and environments and hopefully re-ignite those things that we were once passionate about.Sorry for the long response, but I come across so many people that are in the same situation as your friend, and I truly believe that we are not confined to the limitations that society or our family tries to put on us.   

You will not be confined by the stock market limitations and can invest in alternative assets such as real estate, private lending, trust deeds, syndication, private placements, note funds, etc.You may find this discussion helpful: http://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/2810/blog_posts...This plan is designed for folks who are self-employed or own a small business without full time staff.

@Dane Peterson The best guide will be the other mobile homes around you.  

Besides wholesaling,The other ways to get in RE with little money is mobile home investing , land flipping, and buying them creatively.

I'm currently in talks with a motivated seller looking to sell their mobile home (in a park, not attached to land) which I think I could end up purchasing for only about $3,000. 

From there a little more active but high quality is a 2 to 4 top type property such as Aspen Dental, T-Mobile, and Starbucks all with 10 year lease and rental increases of 10% every 5 years etc.

And also bought a mobile home park, I have some experience.