That is because I buy them right and I don't have debt service eating into my cash flow.

This way your 40k makes at least a small amount of return in the 2 years you are waiting so inflation doesn’t eat away at its value.

But at 24 I’m ready to leave the nest though I’m worried that by moving it’d eat up my savings and income and delay my goal to invest.

If you plan to live out of state and hire a property manager to run it then you'll eat up a lot of that profit.  

There's a lot of costs associated with a home that quickly eats away "profit".... taxes, depreciation recapture, commissions... are real.

They are more likely to bid above them and eat them alive.And your previous owner who just lost their home gave you a personal walk through the property? 

You can't go out to eat every day, can't buy lots of Christmas presents for family, can't go to flea markets, no vacations,  can't buy random things at Wal Mart.

., will all these extra fees eat away any returns?

To me, being frugal is eating in, not shopping, etc.

I am becoming more confused as to what I should do, and I do not want to make a bad move and then limit myself in the future to buy another property if I eat up the equity in my first home, and then do not have a ton of equity in the multifamily.