I have a young friend who has just gotten into the Landlord business - he has purchased 4 properties within the past year, and has gotten the "great idea" that signing up with AHS would relieve him of the multiple repairs he has had to pay for. 

You can get cash flow, but you have to compete and work for it here, where in other states you can walk into better cash flow, but with limited appreciation sometimes.

That gives me a good idea of how diverse and resilient it is.

Hey Kevin, Do you have any idea how many elevators a six story building with 15 units would require?

Be aware of that syndications where you are a limited partner do not count.

You said a “little” money, so bear in mind if you transfer that into a self directed account the annual contribution limits are $7k plus $1000 catch up over 50 so it may take a while to get it to a point where you have enough to invest in real estate.  

(Fall back idea with almost no development costs.) 

But that's the general idea.  

Is this a very bad idea?

An investor has to buy low and sell high (that's the idea).