If you’re not paying cash for properties, get pre-approved for an investor loan to understand your available credit.Time FrameThe shorter your timeline to achieve your goal, the more upfront capital and credit you’ll need.End GoalMost investing goals focus on replacing their current income, like $5,000/Mo.

Questions they will have is who is the owner, what experience do they have, is their key person insurance against them etc. 

So it's just personal preference and budget for a host.

IRS 590 also explains this.5) When you receive a distribution or otherwise get paid back, never take personal control of the money.

Congratulations on the duplex -My investor clients have acquired several multi-family investment properties locally in the market I operate in Northwest Indiana - Figure out your personal investment objective for the next 4 years and align yourself with the next property that make sense in this current market environment-

You can allocate those proceeds any way you want - as equal down payments or buy one for cash and others with loans - It doesn't matter a bit as long as you use all of the cash and purchase at least as much as you sell. 

I personally would never invest somewhere that could outlaw rentals.

I am looking to see if there are ways to get creative with downpayment on commercial loans.

Quote from @Jeff Sanders: Personally coming from an agent/investor in CA, I always get a quote from a broker of mine and make sure I am knowledgeable with the fees/costs.

I 100% agree with the intent aspect and that is an important premise, but the fact is in this particular situation intent for it to be personal use has been confirmed (by way of a public post).