My initial strategy was to just do regular long-term rentals with one year lease terms.

@Mackenzie Davis having an inspector there at the initial property visit is a good idea. 

My problem with larger MF is the initial cost.

I've ordered the BRRRR book from BiggerPockets, and I've listened to BP Episode 327 where they do a BRRRR deep dive where David softly advised against this (@ 1:19:48 in BP 327) because it wasn't efficient, but I wanna learn more and see if it would be a good-enough way to get into real estate for someone in my position.I'm estimating that by the time I'm ready to buy--November 2022--I'll have $70,000 (not including my emergency fund) in cash for everything: cosmetic-only renovations, initial down payment, closing costs, etc.

Does this make sense to still go through with even though I will have no cash flow initially and I will still be able to add a 12 unit apartment property to my portfolio that is presently consisting of one triplex?

If I go this route and can only fly out once, when is the best time to go - to initially view properties, or to see the final property with the inspector?

Usually when someone gives an estimate like it's their initial "sniff" test.

What topics would you cover in your initial meetings?

For example, if we had purchased the property initially for $900k ($300k per person), but we bought his share for $400k, how would the assessor's office use the sale price of his share to modify our taxes? 

Our initial loan to purchase was provided through Loan Depot, which our agent worked to arrange.