Option 3: Pay large down-payment on modest rent ready house. 

If you read all of this I'd really appreciate some candid feedback.I live in Snohomish County, I'm a Navy Veteran, have a stable W-2 making about 80K/yr after taxes, and have a modest amount in savings.

Fast forward 20 years: I now have money in the bank, excellent credit, live modestly on my own, and run a business that’s doing well.Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to save much for retirement during most of my life.

Each grouping had a common room (perhaps it was shared by multiple groupings ... this was a detail I missed) with a nurses/aid workers office.Central to the two sides of the complex were common facilities such as a dining hall, gym {perhaps a pool ... another detail I missed}, theatre &  games room.With one of the fastest growing groups in our society being single people, we are examining a related idea of a  complex / building providing a modest-sized 1-bdroom "apartment" with more semi-private and common amenities.When I read the title to your thread, I thought it was a project proposing to mix students and seniors into a single complex ... and came in thinking, this ought to be interesting :-) 

Plenty of people invest remotely, and as long as you have modest expectations (not chasing the highest possible yield), and are using light leverage, and don't get suckered into buying in a part of town that you wouldn't feel comfortable visiting in broad daylight, plenty of people do this and do... fine.

While I do maintain a relatively modest percentage of my assets in money market instruments, corporate debt funds, and high dividend stocks, I remain most comfortable with the investments I specialize in and know best.  

My firend once had a client who did a high end remodel in a somewhat modest neighborhood.

In this case the desperate borrower accepted a rather modest settlement.  

They make their money off of real estate agents, but real estate agents are the worst people to make money off because they are highly unreliable and in and out of the business when the market changes.Their target should be the consumer with higher levels that they can subscribe too for data, since Zillow is linked to the MLS now which makes their data somewhere more reliable.

Hypothetically, if I found a property with strong rental demand, the income could cover loan payments, operating expenses, and generate a modest positive cash flow.While this example involves upfront risks, the idea would be to leverage my father’s expertise as a contractor to minimize renovation costs, boost the property’s value, and create a long-term asset that appreciates over time.