I'd be looking for property in the 80-150K range and like @arron suggested rent out one of the rooms, or if your market supports it, buy a duplex. 

For my rentals -- definitely mid-range -- we remove popcorn and have ceiling fans in every room.  

However, the home has been fully rented for the past 12 years and generates sufficient cash to cover PITI +  maintenance and even throws off a decent amount of cash every month. 

@Seth Marcus Whats the price range? 

If you have enough common space upstairs, I usually leave that reno to the new owner unless the property is in a price range where they all are finished.

The month’s supply ranged from just 1.1 for mid-priced single-family homes, representing about one-third of sales, to 5.1 months in the much smaller higher-priced condo segment.You can find full data with the graphs at https://www.homedemandindex.co... 

Especially at the low end of income ranges where people need the most help. 

I wanted to find them a guide book on the basics of landlording, something in the 100 page range. 

I wanted to find them a guide book on the basics of landlording, something in the 100 page range.

Every week he has given us updates that collections have been in the low to mid 90% range, and have overall been pretty good.