We are looking to make our first purchase we are just curious as to what advice y’all would have on buying a single family or multi family property to begin with.

I am relocating to California from the mid-west, where we are used to living in newer, bigger homes and we cannot live comfortably in the small, older, expensive homes in the peninsula, SFO city or near Silicon Valley...

Currently have 1 rental and getting another single family this week. 

Almost every single book is saying how easy real estate investment is and I will be honest it sounds fun and easy, almost too good to be true.

BTW, long term goals are buy and hold single family or duplex homes within driving distance.  

Can I use single family houses and try to do a price per square foot or what is the best approach?

I own 2 single family homes and have had great tenants for two years.

The goal is to raise capital from 2-3 parties to invest in a single property and distribute profits over 3-7 years.

it is in a decent working class area with single families all around it. the upper lot is actually the bigger part of the property, so it probably makes more sense to build a house on it. how can I split it into two properties so that i can sell the upper lot?

There may be transfer tax that State imposes but most of the state waive transfer tax to Single Member LLC.