Will you have the time, resources, and mental commitment to dealing with tenant issues, maintenance, and other unexpected challenges that arise with property ownership?

If you want to protect your friend's capital as if it were your own, you'd want to:1) Secure the loan with real estate in the form of a deed of trust or mortgage (depending on the state the property is in)2) Obtain property insurance binder with your lender as an additional insured3) Obtain a lender's title insurance policy protecting them (different than an owner's policy) and transfer all funds through an escrow closer or real estate attorney (depending on the state, the requirements for closing may differ)4) Use a real estate attorney who also practices private lender law in the state the property is located in.

I would rather have 4 Class A properties than 20 Class C properties (20 roofs to replace, HVAC, more tenant issues, property management fees, AC unit stolen, etc).Wealth from real estate is built on appreciation and equity - look at all the multi-millionaires in coastal California whose property values have gone up dramatically over the years and our property taxes increase 2% a year from the base value (Proposition 13) compared to other states whose taxes go up a lot.

However, the issue for me is after doing my numbers he'd still need to be way lower than $175k.

If you are doing it yourself this isn't a bit issue. 

One month ago I made an inspection and tenant stated that there are no drain issues.

And since the qualified mortgage law in 2010, these loans have remained solid, and thus, so has the mortgage securities market.

While a mini storage, apartment building or some other type may sound great they all come with their own issues and stresses. 

Hi Josselyn,You can find the new law and its details here.

I’m having issues with people being able to fill out applications on Zillow.