We do quite a bit of multi family around town.

About collecting rent through Zelle, though, there are a few key reasons why it might not be the best fit for you as a landlord or property management firm, especially in the long run:Zelle is Designed for Personal Use: Its features are great for sending money to friends and family, but it lacks the business functionalities that landlords need, like automatic rent tracking and late fees.No Rent-Specific Features: You'll miss out on handy features tailored for landlords, such as payment reminders, lease management, and maintenance requests.Transaction Limits and Dispute Resolution: Zelle has sending limits that could interfere with rent payments, and it doesn't offer the same level of protection and dispute resolution you'd get with services designed for rental transactions.Given these limitations, while Zelle might work for now, as you grow and manage more properties, you'll likely need a more robust solution that's designed with landlords in mind.

Otherwise the one's not on here, they mainly work with families trying to buy a new primary, or possibly a second home or third.

I am in the process of looking at single-family properties for my first rental.

My wife and I are local investors with single family and multifamily properties all in San Diego. 

What would you do, assuming you didn't have the experience you might have today and wanted to get into multi family with $250,000? 

I am concerned about noise levels when my baby gets here, because newborns cry in the middle of the night and I truly am worried that we are going to have an issue with something that is out of my control, and me and my family are going to be out on the street because of that.

"I will buy at least one single-family home, duplex, triplex, or fourplex before the end of 2019") and then do it.

Please hold the advice about investing with family members.

And at no fault of their own – cashflow is what they were SOLD on.Here's what I want you to understand about “buy and hold” residential real estate:Let’s use a single family home with a property value of $300,000Let’s use an initial loan amount of $240,000Let’s use an interest rate of 7.25%And I’m going to give you $150 of cash flow per monthUse a 5% appreciation amount for your propertyLet’s see what happens after 5 years:After 5 years…$150 of cash flow per month = $9,000Your mortgage has been paid down to $227,000 = $13,000Your property is now worth $382,000 = $82,000So that’s $9,000 of cash flow, $13,000 of principle buy down, and $82,000 of appreciation.