My plan was to purchase a 2-4 unit house and continue to live in this apartment.

Any other thoughts or suggestions as i work to educate myself on this potential area and type of rental?

I call a service for that.The biggest issue that holds people back is a low risk tolerance brought upon them by some paranoid delusion.If you educate yourself enough, you can wind up living your dreams rather than dreaming to live.

The education I received through the podcast was invaluable in giving me the knowledge and confidence to do the first deal.

Continuing this for 3-5 years while working two jobs, living tight, saving as much as possible and throwing it at investments so that I can then be reliably making 30-50k by around 4-5 years in.  

I would assume countertops&backsplash/bathroom could do the trick but it's only an educated guess I have no experience with this.

This was a low purchase value house( 30k), so I am not really freaking out over the 10 years of depreciation being added to or subtracted from my cost basis. ( I took a few years of accounting as part of my education).     

I'm off for now to continue learning!

As an alternative, I am thinking about purchasing a 2 bedroom condo or similarly sized property, and splitting the cost between my girlfriend and a roommate.Should I continue renting with a roomate or should I puchase a property and rent out a room? 

The education I received through the podcast was invaluable in giving me the knowledge and confidence to do the first deal.