The kids all agreed I would get the house, as no one else wanted it.

I got burnt out doing it pretty quickly personally, as renting by the room tends to attract transient-types and has high turnover, although it was great in the beginning when I was living there with friends and was in my early 20's before wife and kids. 

Their kid also lives in another unit and he is dirty too. 

I will definitely explore that. 

I'm secure; roof over our head, food on table, wife/kids enjoy minor luxuries here n there, school activies etc, and while saving 15-20% income each month. 

Getting over the hump of that first property just seems daunting.We aren't risk adverse, but thought it would be great to get some opinions on how to start in REI based on where we are at.We're both 29 (no kids yet), and have roughly $300K in easily accessible capital we could use (more if I wanted to cash-in on some options/RSUs). 

Now I have a wife, kid and big dog which makes it impossible to convince my better half to move into an apartment building lol.

@Lucas Carl One guys wife came in today for a drug screen (the state took their kids away). 

And I hope to hold on to it so my daughters and her kids can benefit from it. :)

As you explore these types of deals, part of your due diligence should be to research the local building departments to ensure the time and costs associated with re-zoning and re-entitiling the property are properly factored into your underwriting.