Over a decade I have talked to thousands of millionaires and the mindset of someone worth 5 million is generally different than someone worth 300k, or 100k etc.

Lastly, since your young you always have the fha house or 2-4 plex hack option in an up and coming area that allows you to tie up several hundred thousand in inventory for very little (3.5%) Think about locations like Inglewood, downtown LA ish, Long Beach etc...

Sit tight and wait?

This way you can begin building your "team" or start figuring out the best places to get loans, best contractors, etc.It's a waiting game for sure and it sucks to just sit but I'm sure everyone goes through a stagnant period in their career.Good luck out there!

I’d rather go direct go the manufacturer and cut out the middle man- but US Modular talked a good game (sounded sales pitchy, so I’m not sure about them yet) and I also found another company out of Idaho with a local representative that I’m waiting to hear numbers from.

The deals are out there, so keep working.However, keep in mind if you wait long enough, you'll get to see the market turn down again. 

Neither of us are truly happy here, however.If you were in our shoes, would you begin investing in a small MFH (if I could find one) in our current locale since I know what areas are worth investing in, or wait until I get a new job, or something else? 

I just know that I'm not going to "wait" to buy until a recession.

In addition to the above, there is a $2500 down payment, is this a mandatory component for any deals or this can be something that we can give only we have got a good buyer waiting in line? 

Maybe that seems like a lot to offer but my thoughts are a few thousand dollars is minor when considering the life of ownership of this asset.