Management fees get cheaper the larger the property is.  

What sort of value are you looking at?

what sort of terms  are tied to these programs these days ?

From there, you basically have larger markets in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allentown.

You may want to consider buying each property individually with one or two investors and giving each of them some sort of active role if your intent is to go JV route.

This way you can move into your own place and also get started in real estate investing.If you can afford to put a larger downpayment than 3.5% then you can always go the conventional loan route and still buy a duplex, triplex, or fourplex.Hope this helps.

You definitely don't want a commission split nor do you need the systems and training that the larger brokerages offer.As far as your own purchases, you could start out using a lawyer to review documents and help you understand everything until you have a better grasp on it.

Try to look for a place with a larger lot so you could convert a 2 fam to a 3 later on? 

We have had several ultra bad laws passed in the last few years (minimum wage laws, gun laws, business regulation of various sorts, etc), but they're limited in scope, and if they don't effect you personally it's easy for the overall situation to be pretty great still.

Consistency is important for all sorts of marketing.Good Luck!