I am drawn to multi family homes and think I would like to start close to home here in the Twin Cities, but the more I listen and read, the less opposed I am to looking out of state. 

Buying a condo seems like a huge waste, whereas multi-family gives some cash flow to neutralize my monthly payments.

when underwriting a property a good rule of thumb would be to set aside ~5% gross income for each Cap Ex, maintenance, and vacancy. (15% total)I dont know much of the market in TX but in central MA i work with a lot of investors that are interested in acquiring multi family properties so that's mostly what i deal in. 

My clients and I are using DSCR loans on our multi family acquisitions.

My biggest advice is to start investing where you have a good network of people you know like and trust...this especially holds true if you will be investing out of state.While it's not impossible to go straight to the commerical I personally found it easier to start in the residential world and then make my way over to commerical multi-family. 

I’m aware that the process of getting a conventional or a FHA loan is a bit more strenuous as a 1099 and wanted to know the best course of action I should take as I’m trying to purchase a small fixer upper multi-family investment property hopefully by 2026.

To maximize your first VA entitlement, I would skip the single family homes unless there aren’t really multi units (1-4units) available in your area.

These loans often have flexible terms, can be held in an LLC, and can cover multi-unit properties.

Fresh cracked dungess crab was 25 for a one pound container for years.. it flew up to 50 bucks.. there is no shortage of dungess crab in the Pacific oceans .. its down to 35 now.. but still high.. the meats the same way most all went up at least 50% and have not dropped.. chilean seabass was 15 bucks a pound went to 25k and has stayed there..

I’ve seen firsthand how house hacking can be a powerful strategy for building cash flow and wealth, especially in multi-family properties like the 4-plex you’re targeting.