Overall, my short-term goal is to have invested in my first property before 2018.

More options give you more chances to win.Yea, you may make a few bucks if you invest it in the meantime by investing in the market, which you'll have to pay capital gains on (short or long term depending on when you buy/sell) or the stock market may take a dive in the next couple of years and your $25k is now $18k, which changes your math for you ultimate goal of a MF house hack.

Make your number one goal being to get the property prior to trustee sale by getting in contact with the owner directly.

What are your goals? 

Have the current owner get them out prior to closing .

Hi- I purchased a house at a trustee sale in September in California.  Property tax is current through June.  I assume the bank needs to pay the amount accrued up until the trustee deed being filed.  Is that right?   ...

Our goal is to obviously have good positive cash flow, to allow us to re-invest in more property for a "snowball" effect.

Can you actually use expected rental income to qualify if you do not have prior years of landlording experience via tax returns?

Good enough for a rehab but not quite for a purchase.We’re looking to get into “Fix and Flip” to increase capital and maybe BRRR it if the numbers make sense, but our ultimate goal eventually is to Buy and Hold.

In fact, it's so much debated Scott Trench recently posted a topic on the subject, which got a lot of detailed responses.Here is the link: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/519/topics/485592-best-way-to-invest-a-large-lump-sum-of-money-100-300kThere are many strategies out there, but what is your end goal and timeline?