You've certainly digested a lot of book in the two months period.

Right after I learned of this approach, I did it for most of the cities local to me.City-data.com actually goes right down to the census tract in granularity, and census tract is just a fancy way of saying neighborhood. 

Have a lender look into the Home Possible program for you. 5% down on a multi-unit if you occupy the property and meet the income restrictions for the census tract.

I've opted recently to go with the fiberglass surround in a SFR tract house built in the 1980's.

I went out to the book store (man, this whole post is nostalgia central - phone books, book stores) and bought "Reader's Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself" book, learned how to glue plastic pipe and parts together, and fixed it, and the drywall, myself about a week later. 

@Richard Sherman @Isaak Brown all great info guys and appreciate the resources as well.. lot of digesting to do tonight!

I've been obsessively digesting every real estate market headline, analysis chart, market outlook, and Case-Schiller index the internet can feed me and it seems certain that we're exiting the expansion phase of the real estate cycle.

Once you build this small tract record I feel it should be much easier to attract private investors you don't personally know.

I'm a lifetime learner, so I'll be digesting lots of new material.

There is a lot of information to digest but once absorbed the process of doing a deal is pretty simple.