An elderly man on a fixed income should be able to find an apartment that is income-based and affordable.

I wouldn't spend too much time on low money down and how to find a deal, I would focus on building your own personal equity so you don't need to do that.

You should build versus buy.  

He sells them for tens of thousands a pop and generates revenue of over $1M a year and has no overhead except his electric bill in his basement for the lighting, a part time employee and of course the food.

I'm aware of a couple off-market deals that I've dug up for other investors, and I know a local investor that owns over a hundred of units that he'd consider selling, all the way from bare land, to single families, to multi-units including several apartment buildings.

All the things you can't see will come back to kill you in a 1912 12-plex if you aren't a seasoned apartment investor.

You need to build your team for your real estate investing business.

Build up that war chest.

The ability to generate money for laundry at a 2-4 unit building is totally dependent upon the tenants you have.

Basically, if you are committed to this investment thing, you will need to make some uncomfortable/hard choices to eliminate the credit card debt and lower your monthly debt.Once that goal is complete, you can begin practicing habits to live below your means and start building up your savings.