Now if your goal is to build yourself your own large rental portfolio I get that going out on your own.. and investing in Pooled investments take on some risk compared to outright ownership.. so depends on your risk factors.. but comparing a 10 million dollar apartment complex to a low end 50k rental.. that's a no brainer.

I really like the way you’re thinking about this.As someone that’s house hacked here in Utah 3 times now, house hacking is a no brainier.Not only are you able to subsidize your monthly payment but you’re also gaining appreciation and you’re able to create a small rental portfolio within a few years.When I look to purchase a house hack my overall goal is to buy property that will gain in appreciation and that I will cash flow from when I move (even if the numbers don’t pan out when I first buy).If you buy the property you are looking at with 3.5% down, and then you only had to pay 800/mo for your home, PLUS it cash flowed after you move in a year or two is it really YOU paying the extra 80k?

Also in the lease agreement i have a no smoking policy because i dont want anyine smoking anything inside the unit.

Summary: as LL/Seller to consumer - that is a no-go. 

SellerFinance is a no-goAnything that will not get her to deep ion the HOLE!

With reglaze being $300-400, granite became a no brainer because of cost, longevity, and the ability to raise rents on the improved finish.

The added complexity of 4 tenants to manage versus 2 makes a duplex that cashflows the same as a fourplex almost a no-brainer, though.However, if the ConC is the same, then the 4-plex is the no-brainer as long as the operation style and tenant mix the property will have is going to fit with your overall investing goals.4 is more, so if you're going to score, score more!

Even a good PM cannot compensate for a poorly located building, as you will be serving a low class kind of tenant who proves to be a no pay, late pay, partial pay headache before absconding into the night. 

It seemed like a no-brainer when we could utilize a second home loan for a low down-payment and get higher cash flow than other investment types too.

That fact alone makes it less likely they'll accidentally break a self-dealing rule, such as if their IRA had actually bought a rental property, then the investor decided to try to self manage (that's a no-no).