One thought would be for you to move into the smaller unit and rent out the larger unit to bring in more revenue.

Or find a property that is under-utilized or has below market rents.Otherwise, you could also do the OPPOSITE of the great advice from @Jonathan Greene and buy a property with multi-bed units or live in the larger unit and rent out the smaller unit - while getting a roommate(s).

Only an investment team can provide the crucial local knowledge you need.Moreover, you'll need various resources to find, validate, inspect, renovate, and manage a property.

Larger Multifamily is currently a very overcrowded field as there are many multifamily trainers out there teaching armies of people how to buy it, who are all competing for the same deals, and sellers know it.

Plus the way these larger parties go through TP . . . .

Thats how it would be spun anyway...investors are a subset of a much larger general public, and sub-to is a small niche 

However, we typically use the FHA-203k loan because it involves a renovation, which I highly recommend if you are looking to really boost your equity and have the cost of the renovation wrapped into your loan with a VERY LOW AMOUNT OUT OF POCKET.I like the FHA loan, but honestly, the Fannie May Home Style is an even better product at this point because you just have to bring a bit more cash to the table 5% vs. 3.5% (w/ FHA), but you have a bit more flexibility.  

The “Big deals” are…You have to buy something you don’t already own, not pay off debt, renovate a home you own, or build on land you already own.You have to spend all the “cash” you receive.You have spend more than your net selling price.You can never receive or have control of the cash, you need a QI PRIOR to selling. 

Will I only be able to mortgage the purchase price and costs, or will I be able to do a full cash out refinance and tap into some of the added equity of renovations?

Most hit all the bullet points excepting:Spending $175 on renovation and adding square footage or unit count does NOT miraculously convert to valuation.