I'm looking to owner-occupy a fourplex (not yet under contract) and would prefer to arrange for financing ahead of time.

I think if you buy in the county auction, all the liens might follow you, so it's good to do research on the properties ahead of time.

I'm thinking I should go ahead and flip a house.

Starting this way while you're young and childless will put you far ahead of others.This may feel like the end of a long trip. 

You'll need to determine your current DTI with the following formula: monthly income divided by 12, and multiply that by .45 (you'll really get a lenders attention by knowing this ahead of time, and come off much more professional). 

I saw income growth as the path to a "better" vehicle or "better" widget I'd barely notice was improved.

I have always had more faith in real estate as an investment vehicle than say the stock market.

It's slower but if you could get 7%ish on your passive vehicle without a capital gain tax bill then that would be more than $2600/mo to dump on debt.Another stodgy but sure way to get where you're trying to go would be to take a page from Dave Ramsey and other financial planners and consolidate and eliminate debt one of two ways.1.

I went ahead and gave them $100 discount on next months rent for "lost food and troubles".

Its a no questions asked type of deal and they are already know ahead of time what it will cost them.