Higher maintenance and repair costs (even low to no skill workers demand 35-40% higher labor)This has led us to diversify our strategy and convert some of our units into MTR's instead of LTRs to increase margin.

But there are so many nuances to that topic I can't even start to delve into it here.Your 2-4 unit theory will be tough.  

You may not like the tough love approach, but "pain" is the biggest motivator.

The only downside to this loan style is that it's tough to qualify for.

where I would tend to agree with the OP is I have seen folks use their IRA and not understand the actual costs of ownership and end up in a tough spot when they don't have enough reserves in the IRA  ( example they have 50k and spend 45k of the cash thinking 5k is enough reserves.) ..

If you are looking in Charlotte, that is going to be a tough one to pull off.

It is tough because it feels like a mix but I would say it is a B-/C+ area so I will think about that when doing this.

It seems that every decade or so we hit a patch where financing gets tough and sales stall for a while because people are having trouble processing mortgages. 

It's a tough ask for software productivity tools when the "spec" (or "problem statement") isn't well defined. 

It sounds like what you're looking for is an equity partner - you will have a tough time finding someone to lend in 2nd position at 100% CLTV.