I'm looking to pursue long-term rentals in the future and I would like to take advantage of the time that I have to offer some value to an investor that would be willing to let me learn from them. 

Any advice or suggestions on my goals below would be taken to heart.I’ve been interested in real estate for a while as a way to plan for the future, and I’ve been able to take advantage of these slower months to begin learning and get a clearer picture of my goalsI currently have a good job that I enjoy, but the industry I’m in is constantly changing, and you never know for sure where it's headed in the next few years.

I feel like he's taking advantage of the situation since he wouldn't send me an invoice.

As we're currently seeing with the riots and looting, many people take advantage of bad situations.

Harder to find but if they see you are a serious investor with property experience anywhere in the world that is also an advantage.

I understand the advantages of the MFR, but I'm interested to know if SFR tend to attract a better clientel than the MFR's in this lower Buffalo area? 

The advantage you have here is that by living in the property, lenders allow you to put very little down to purchase the property and with 2-4 units they can count rent of other units towards your income to qualify for a high loan amount than you would otherwise.Best of luck!

Value-add cap rates tend to be lower since there's theoretically a lot of opportunity there for you to take advantage of (and the seller/market knows it).

I'm just nervous to get taken advantage of during this time.

You can increase your liability insurance coverage if thats all you are worried about.Some advantages of owning properties in a corporation include:Income tax planning/splitting opportunitiesYou may qualify for the lifetime capital gains exemption if you are Canadian if you sell the shares of the corporation in the futureLimited liabilityLess personal debtSome disadvantages are:Net income is taxed as passive income at the highest rateCorporate tax returns are more expensive than personal returnsThere are still several banks other than CIBC which provide residential mortgages to corporations.