@Adam Gollatz hit it right on the head. the most 'affordable'  or 'landlord friendly' markets are listed above.

Since the down payment % is so low, you can afford to buy a multi family with 3 or 4 units.

We've decided on Atlanta because of the market growth, demand, and (relatively, especially compared to NYC) affordable prices.

The tax incentives for first time home buyers to help with deductions of mortgage interests and so on if you decide to get a mortgage and wait up to 30 years to finally own your home which by then you are probably in your 60s.Anyways down to the real question here.For a first time home buyer trying to purchase primary residence home, does it makes sense for me to buy the house all cash if i can afford to do it?

If you cannot afford to buy today you might negotiate a ROFR in your lease where you have firsts rights to purchase if the owner every decides to sell the real estate.If you would own one space in a condo type for office or retail you have to be really careful with WHO is running the association because you will likely be a small percentage owner versus the overall spaces and have more limited control and input to what happens to the project as a whole.  

Economies of scale sometimes push people to own more so that they can afford to do less.

It's an 8 unit, and they have had bed bugs before, and would throw their old furniture in the empty lot and burn it. 

I'm in the process of vetting lenders who can help me get started on my REI journey getting my first property/mortgage.Obviously, before I can buy I need to know what I'm pre-qualified to afford.

I don’t have a problem if you want to build a nice house; my main point is you are not getting a $400k heloc which is what your post implies.Here are my personal rules for  Building a personal residence: no more than 25% of income to payment, don’t go so custom That you can’t resell, Find out how long $500 k homes take to sell in your area; what percent of people in your area can afford it if you will sell in the future. $500 k would sit for too long in my area and I would not do more than $350k here, but that is just me.Good luck 

8-plexes would be easier to sell in the future since more buyers would be able to afford them.What is the optimal number of units where I can maximize economies of scale?