Capital items are considered non-recurring items, so are non-operating.  

Catch #2, many Gen-Z can’t afford the purchase of a home, and need $ from their parents to put up the down payment, 38% to be exact.

You don't buy a house sub2 if you don't have sufficient capital to make payments if something happens to your renter/buyer.  

You may also consider looking for lease with option to own opportunities, for the same reason; lower your down payment- then use the leasing period to build up what you need to exercise the option to purchase. 

When you've proven you can put up with scammers, non-paying renters, bad contractors, etc., then you can apply those same skills to a better asset class.Buying new properties won't make those problems go away, and it may make them worse because you'll be at a higher price point and have more to risk.

There are still areas where you can buy units for $200k/ door but they require a lot of work usually and covering all operating expenses and interest payments can be challenging base on low-ish rent levels in some places.

Can I refi a bond for deed or will I have to start over and put another large down payment down?

It also requires a small monthly payment, so once it's started we've got our impetus to meet at least once a month (lol).Speaking of which, I'd say it's nearing the time to propose another Yokohama area meet-up!

My rent is 3k a month and my payment is 4k a month.

Congrats on taking the first step, usually people get hung up on only one strategy, and the best way to start your real estate investing journey is house hacking with lower down payments and interest rate since it is a new primary residence, especially since you can probably rent out your primary and cash flow when you move out.I'm a local investor and realtor here in Denver metro, and I've found success with house hacking here in Denver for myself (rent by room, Airbnb, Section 8, LTRs, etc) along with my clients too.