The lower the cash you put in, the less you are paying for the property. 

Right now, I'm in the "knowledge gathering phase" and actively putting what I learn into action.I have a fantastic team of investors, a legit buyers list, and resources for finding deals.

What's your tolerance for risk?

You will then have a few options with that rent money....you can put it into principal or you can start saving it to purchase yet another property.

You’re able to learn the basics of a real estate investment with lower risk and build equity at the same time.

If they have no cash your taking a huge risk on a ground up new build. and for that you would want to get a standby rate of interest like I do say 10% and I would charge 50% of the upside profit.. if they are putting cash into it..  3 to 4 points and 10 to 15% interest is market.and you give them money in draws as work is completed..

When a tenant puts in a maintenance request I'm able to take care of it as soon as possible.   

Even in those saturated markets, that'll put downward pressure on sale prices.Keep in mind that for single family, you will be competing against retail buyers.

Account Closed is correct, absolutely do both.. especially if youre just starting out even Grant Cardone started with a SFR. but for the sake of his question lets say you have 100k saved up for a real estate endeavor TOTAL, and you find a SFR that fits the 1% ratio (100k house that brings in 1k rent) that is doable if you calculate it out that would equal a 8.2% cash on cash IF it stays at a 90% occupancy rate. on the other hand if you invest that 100k into a limited partnership with a company that invests in value add apartments will now your cash on cash can be a preferred 10% with a target of 16-20% IRR which would essentially double your money in 2-5 years.. in this scenario the SFR would take sweat equity from you and risk while only returning a measly 8% CoC while the MF would be completely passive allowing you to learn and grow without hindrance with a 10% CoCnow we are over simplifying but I hope this made sense.. cuz my brain hurts ;D

With my new direction I am looking to put my effort and $ into marketing via direct mail and phone campaigns and create a website mostly for credibility.