My sophomore year of college I bought a 4 bedroom house so me and my friends from high school could live for cheaper than paying the steep rent for other run down houses in the college neighborhoods.

Insurance gets cheaper the bigger you get.

Now here is were i will say the PM dropped the ball.1. the gas should have been on and pilot lit before the tenant moved in, if it was just rehabbed it should have been turned on to test and made sure it was working properly, or if there was time in between, the gas should of been off which means the gas company would of had to come out and turn it on and light the boiler.2. the PM should have who ever is taking those service calls be able to walk through a few simple checks before calling a HVAC professional, I would not have the tenant light it, but if I know all that is needed is for it to be lit, I can send one of our handymen out at a much cheaper rate than the HVAC guy.  

you have 2 duplexes near yours that have been sitting on the market for quite a bit longer and are quite a bit cheaper per sq.ft.

Unfortunately, single family homes in good condition will be more in the 450-500K so above my budget.Like I said in my post, I'm looking for a rental property so it doesn't have to be downtown Denver, that's why I'm exploring other options like the Colorado Springs market which seems to be much cheaper with a good price/rent ratio compared to Denver. 

If you outsource out (can be done cheap through automation) it could be a little better but I doubt that much for one car.if you're going to become a car rental you'll need a fleet vs just trying to do this part time to make some money.There are far cheaper cars you can get and rent out that would likely make much more sense.If you're flexible on car types you can get cheap leases that make certain cars extremely affordable and likely with little costs outside the lease.

A good PM company will actually come close to paying for itself if not pay for itself entirely... allow me to explain... 1) Your PM company should be able to find you tenant's faster than you could reasonably find them yourself because they already have a large applicant pool to pick from, from other properties they manage which decreases your vacancy and increases our cashflow; 2) Your PM should be able to provide you with basic vendor services i.e. mowing, snow removal cheaper than you could reasonable find yourself because they should have trusted vendors which provide cheaper services in return for volume and continued service from the PM; 3) Your PM should be able to market your property at no cost to you and on a bigger scale, which is of course cheaper than you could market yourself ---- Number 1 is a BIG one.....

So if 30-yr debt is cheap for houses, it's actually cheaper for me (may not be true for others) for apartment buildings.

A SFH can be cheaper than a Multi-Family property in the same area, however, if you’re comparing a SFH to a Multi-Family from a different area, it’s also possible the Multi-Family property could be cheaper.

If you decide to do a house hack, you might not be able to make money from it or reduce your housing costs to $0, but it will certainly be cheaper than the rent you're paying now.