I came across this article from Kellogg Insight showing how online sports betting is eating into people’s savings.

Nationwide, new builds dominate short-term & medium-term rentals, while outdated long-term rentals (LTRs) struggle. Columbus is the perfect case study:
Most investment properties sold here were built in 1900-1950...

I am Steven (from Australia) and holds a W-2 equivalent role in Australia.I'm currently contemplating a significant step in my investment journey and would greatly appreciate everyone's advice.

That would be equivalent to $1200 now with no rent. 

Mathematically, it is equivalent to traditional financing. 

If you are trying to maximize cashout many programs nowadays ask for 4 months of PITI prepaid which reduces your cashout, so finding a program that doesn't ask for that is basically equivalent to an extra 2-5% cash at closing.

You can maybe get an equivalent of tech support people who read from the script.

Paying for a Section 8 investment course is the equivalent of an aspiring cook paying for a course titled: How To Boil Water

those aren't equivalent options. 

You can win big, but also lose big when betting in a volatile market.