You may be able to secure higher leverage financing through alternative lenders than a traditional bank (not always the case) and this may help advance your objective of reducing the down payment/cash requirement but that may only be temporary relief as you will likely pay more over the course of the loan because of higher rates and fees.

If you do sell and do a 1031 exchange there are a few things you could do to make your exchange as smooth as possible.The first option, If you do a traditional 1031 exchange and find a property that you really like don't hesitate to get it under contract.

.- Immediately refinance the property with a traditional bank mortgage to pull out a significant portion of equity. 

seems high. this town is very expensive so bids are always highs.For the residential I plan to just build lots.For the farmstead area our plan is to build our primary home and then 5 smaller cabins for rentals.That road above is a smaller access road to the little cabins.

It’s a way to make money without doing as much work as traditional flipping.

She is very old school, she mentioned that the seller would only contribute to the “traditional” closing costs, around 2k 

A HELOC or loan on your primary could provide funding, but that is typically not designed for longer term funding - i.e. a down payment on a multifamily....

My primary focus right now is Duplex/Triple & REI investments, with a goal of achieving financial freedom.

Due to personal faith based reason, I prefer to only invest in all cash deals that don't involve traditional financing (so typical passive RE options like syndications, RE funds with fixed returns, REITs etc are not a viable option for me). 

If the mortgage product affects the answer, it would be a traditional investment property mortgage, not a DSCR loan.