Its easy to allow yourself to fall into the trap of analysis paralysis.

I would recommend staying away from vinyl planks with adhesive tabs, they are notoriously problematic and fall apart easily when any direct sunlight hits them. 

This is where you fall into the definition of brokering without a license.  

I did my RE course at the KW in Arlington and really liked them, but decided to go with Fairfax Realty in Falls Church due to the better commission splits.

We spoke to the neighbors who said the widower's children had taken him out of state last fall.

I would like to invest in northern Texas, In the city of Wichita Falls.

He buys older homes that are for sale for around 550k and tried to squeeze out between 20 to 50k on each deal (Most of them falling closer to the 20k). 

Then the rest of the pieces fall into place since you have access to their networks.Best,Dave

I don't want to fall into the trap of buying because I feel I have to, but that said I've got cash sitting around drawing 0.01% that I need to do something with and this seems to be the best in my area, other than a distressed property I'm planning to snatch up if the current under-contract falls through.  

The two units that you rent out would be reported as rental property and the one unit that you live in would be reported/treated as your primary residence.In the future, when you sell the triplex, the two units that you rent out could be structured as a 1031 Exchange transaction and the one unit that you live in as your primary residence would fall under Section 121 of the Internal Revenue Code ($250,000 tax-free).