If a property goes into foreclosure on a second, as Ken said you will either be buying it subject to the first mortgage - meaning it's your mortgage now - or the first has to be satisfied to take possession of the property - or the owner of the first is going to be there bidding what they are owed, so you would need to outbid them to get the property and then you are the person paying off the first mortgage. 

I plan on driving alot to find distressed or run down multifamily properties that possibly are owned by an out of state investor and reaching out however would like everyone's opinion or personal experience on some other creative ways.

Third, the typical person renting a room is not a home buyer candidate. 

i think you can be successful if you are willing to do what you alluded to, which is spend time in person in your chosen market. 

You can find something in Durham and parts of Raleigh, specifically zips 27610, 27603, and parts of 27604 that would meet your criteria, however generally speaking most of the inventory that would fit what you are looking for in Raleigh or Durham would likely be in neighborhoods that I personally wouldn't want to invest in, C- to D type neighborhoods.

Personally, my favorite way of sourcing deals is building relationships with brokers and nurturing those relationships by checking in consistently.

I have about 100k in assets both personal and business I could sell, but part of me thinks that’s extreme and I’ll sell “myself” along the way with all my stuff.  

Quite the opposite - I invest my personal money as just one more member, in each investment we end up doing as a club. 

Quote from @John Fleming: I don't have any personal recommendations, but something below may help you in the search.Start by going to www.narpm.org to search their directory of managers.

Because personal growth and financial stability sounded like a better combo than Netflix and takeout.