If necessary to go through city or not..

How do I access a portion of that equity to fund the purchase of 1-2 more MFR properties in more affordable markets like OH, IN, MI, PA, TN, or AL?

I'm not a lawyer or anything and don't have any experience with the ones I've wrote in the past in court. 

I'd also worry about the showings and if someone steals something from the tenants (or the tenants claim something is missing).Focus on getting the most you can for the property.

Looking to find duplex or something along those lines to reside in and then eventually move upward.

We all know of the smoker who "just quit" but resumed or "just smokes outside so that's really not smoking" until it's rainy or frigid and they have the excuse "Well it's miserable out there! 

If area or units aren't good enough to easily attract sec 8 a lot of these rougher area investments turn into huge losses.

Would I just handle the payments myself as servicer or are there any third parties who specialize in this?

Quote from @Geritt Shipley: Hello, I've got a single family home in Portland, OR and the tenants began hearing rats in the attic about a month ago.

Before you think you're getting in for zero down, have you asked what kind of cash reserves you have to have to qualify for the loan such as X number of months rent, and X number of months taxes, and what about insurance are they going to require you to buy one years of insurance or something.