We are building a single family home as a rental. 

Owning single home houses are something I will never recommend renting them out with a few exceptions and you did not mention any of them. 

Hey @Juan Chavez,She could access the equity by selling the entire property or bringing in a partner who would like to buy into the equity in exchange for cashflow.Why not put together a small package on your Mom, her income, the property's historical financials and a plan for the way forward and take it to 5 bankers for in person meetings?  

Was looking at condos but now I am primarily looking at single family/multi family properties within 1 block from the beach. 

It took me 5 years of saving every extra penny until I had enough, then I bought a single family home using all cash. 

I've looked at singles, duplexes, up to Multi-family and even in the "up-and-coming" areas, the numbers do not make sense.

I am looking for distressed single family homes.

*additional question:If my tenants are section 8, will the single electric meter issue have trouble passing their inspection?

Also I would not want to be in a position where I have to compete with these new developments with a dated MF building lacking the anemnities and quality in construction (think noise insulation between apartments and floors).The single family market is a very different story.

I want to start with single family homes.