@Christopher Heil Depending on your comfort level, you need to make a plan whether to continue to build up cash or if you're ready to buy and hold.

@Wei WangIt depends on the state, and you did not disclose yours.For instance, here is an article about doing this in Texas.

Depend on loan scenario:- How long you are going to keep the property?

It depends what you mean by live off of or how much money you need.As a general idea to make 100k per year requires roughly 800k-1.5M of invested capital.So if I was your friend I’d pick a cheaper market than Austin but that’s just me.

Depends on you.

It all depends how good the deal is , and how bad do u want it.  

In some places these things will all become part of the record... but it depends who is involved and where the property is located. 

Depends on your idea of negligible I guess.

They pay the mortgage and my utilities (essentially living and owning a home for free - in your shoes you would be cash flowing).Then, depending on what you are doing for a job (or college), it'd be good to establish yourself at work and save enough for your rainy day account (savings in case you lose your job) and then start saving more for a rental property.

@Steven Bates Unfortunately, depending on where you're at in the country the rates have risen.