Most credit unions do not help with non-owner occupied properties. 

You could also look into non-recourse loans.

There will be much more government spending and jobs created in Mcallen to secure the border, leading to continued population growth.

Are you thinking government spending is going to actually get cut and inflation was just a flash in the pan? 

I'm diving into some of the public county-level Zillow data.

This will help direct your search to the right areas, property types and price point.If you're purchasing all-cash, skip that step.Depending on your goal and preferred timeline for closing, the majority of your time should be spent searching for and analyzing deals.Searching: Look at public listing sites; connect with an investor friendly agent and choose 1 to work with who can search MLS and off-market inventory; for additional off-market options, consider growing your own database of wholesalers and homeowners Analyzing: Your agent can send comps and you can also search public listing sites for sold homes.

They’ll often have leads on deals before they go public. https://www.biggerpockets.com/business/finder/agentsWith your experience in renovations, you may be able to find value even in these challenging properties.

Out of the 20 letters I've sent, I've had 1 guy get back to me and we were in discussions but weren't able to find a price that worked for the both of us.The issue is that I only have a few houses on my mailing list so far (just places I've walked or driven by that caught my attention), and blindly searching every street and address # to see which houses are actually legal multifamily will take forever and doesn't seem efficient.I know the data is publicly available, I just don't know how to aggregate it in a way that would be efficient and useful for blasting out marketing mailers.Are there any websites that can pull massive lists of all multifamily houses in my area?

However, government officials, pandering to populist sentiment, hold landlords to standards and responsibilities far more restrictive than any other business.  

We generally advise our clients to go ahead and pay the recapture rates if death is the alternative.The good news about recapture - the deductions are a deferred tax liability to you, and an interest free loan from the government.