I own single family homes but would love to venture into a multi fam…Thank you ! 

Multi-family properties many times provide a better return per square foot than single family, which would be to your advantage as well.As long as you're mindful of the reinvestment requirements and purchase at least as much as you sold and use all of the proceeds, you shouldn't have any issues with this strategy.

Looks like biting the bullet and getting an engineer may be my best bet.

Quote from @Reed Rickenbach: John - as long as you are still following strict screening criteria I agree for single family.

Moving forward scaling with hard money loans may be the best bet and would avoid the headaches of living in a construction project. 

Builder tore down the single family and built two single families on the lot.

The other is a Single Family long term rental.

Myself and a friend are looking to get into investing in buying hold single-family homes.

I also have a joint venture with them on a single family property in Philadelphia that is currently rented.

I am betting for the appreciation of the house in the next years because I don't think I can cash flow in the first years.