@Cade Zerr One option: buy a 4-5 bed house and rent by the room to college students. 

Here we go....I have a family friend who is basically the Godfather of student rentals in Boulder, CO.

Knowing you are only 30 minutes from Columbia, I would recommend you start investing there due to the housing demand brought on by Mizzou students.

I am a college student who wants to invest in real estate but want to start out small.

This applies for mortgages, credit card debt, student loans, car loans, you name it. 

I have used mysmartmove the last two years only for background info onlyI am leaning towards VENMO after looking into this further as I deal with predominantly college age students who really grasp this.

While you don't want to become a "professional student", you also DON'T want to prop your ladder against the wrong wall. 

My parents still have money saved in a 529 plan for me and I saw that they can use that for mortgage payments, but I am wondering if that can be used for the down payment (if I am still a student at the time). 

I plan on building my portfolio with possible student rentals (SF) or more residential multi's.

My plan to house hack is to rent out my single family home to students vs a family.