Seattle area, where to invest? And some beginner questions.

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Hello! First time posting (besides my intro).

My husband and I are wanting to start investing in multi-family properties. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed as I'm trying to learn about all of this and I have lots of questions. 

~Our plan is to buy a duplex, live in one side and rent out the other (I just learned there is a term for this... house hacking), rent out our current home, and then after a year buy another duplex and do it again. The reason is so that we can get better financing with it being bought as owner-occupied, since this area is so expensive to buy and we're having trouble finding something we can afford. 

This situation isn't ideal for us as we have two little kids and we'd rather not move a lot, but if we can't find another way, we'll do it. Because of this, we're alternatively thinking about investing further away from where we live to be able to buy as investment property and not have to live in it. Maybe in central Washington? Maybe in another state? We just don't know where to look. Any advice for how to decide where to invest would be greatly appreciated.

~If we are looking to invest in cities that are hours away from us, do we contact a realtor in each city? How does that work? 

~I've been seeing people talk about how they buy a rental, then immediately refinance. Why/how do people do this? I'm trying to read about it but I'm not understanding. 

~How do you find a good, reliable contractor to work with? 

Thanks in advance for any help!