@David LewisRecommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Or, you could move out and leave this first purchase as a rental and buy another.

My last purchase (built 1900) has no closets.

Purchase price: $160,000 Cash invested: $35,000 Another 1% single family deal in a transitional area creating long term wealth

I am currently in the market to purchase a tri-plex with the plan to live in one unit, make upgrades, and rent the other two out.

If you want to combine two or more lesser sales into one higher purchase that is fine as long as your purchase meets the timing requirements for each sale.  

Makes complete sense to purchase a property that breaks even or loses money.

refinance our own home with some money down + purchase another flip? 

This is my first purchase, where my intent was to install recessed lighting all throughout the house.

And even it's SF when you purchase it, again because it's not 100% MF including the county/city classification, you can use rental income from both units to help you qualify for future investments.Option #3 is something to use only when you're not willing or able to move into the property.