I mean, there's more constants with SFH, where as in multi's its kinda, well like you said- amorphous blob LOLplus, as far as commercial goes, is there even a distinct niche within that property type?

The last part of the story is that these properties have appreciated substantially.Two distinct questions come in this regard:1.

There is a distinction on lending criteria between 1-4 units which are residential and 5+ units which are commercial.A residential loan, you typically get 15, 20, & 30 year fixed terms.

Important distinction - while a HRL may not report your outstanding liability to the credit bureaus, every time you apply for credit, you have to provide a personal financial statement which lists all your assets and liabilities. 

Also, when we bought the properties, even though they were two separate property parcels, the interiors had been converted into one space, so we "uncombined" the units so they could be used and sold as distinct properties again.

The distinction is that the apartment is in my home.

I distinctively remember the fear of the unknown the first night that I slept in the place on an air mattress.

I moved in immediately downstairs and got to work building two simple closets and a door to make two distinct (and legal) bedrooms on the third floor.

FHA makes no such distinction, up to 4 units you can do 3.5% down.

I only assumed it was owner occupied because the mailing address for the owner on the tax assessor page is at the property itself, which is usually how the city makes the distinction as far as I know.I'm glad to hear you checked out the area.