At this point I have a few traditional lenders (local banks charging 4.75-5’ish %) that can close in 30 days.

We use the capital for down payments and finance the rest of the purchases through traditional financing.

It may be you get a construction loan and then when done you refinance with a more traditional loan.

So it's a question of should I use my funds as 20% down on an SFR and rent it out as a traditional investment or should I use those same funds as 5% down (or lower) on a fourplex as a primary residence where I take advantage of the financing programs, live in one unit, and rent the others. 

My understanding is my max cashout refinance is 75% from a traditional bank. 

@Christian Pietrantonio A general rule of thumb is if you cannot find good deals in your own area, then try the areas/places you visit often (family or friends).

While I own a number of "traditional" rentals in other parts of the state, this will be my first experience in the college rentals as well as vacation rentals.  

The secondary market, non-traditional lenders, is huge if you know where the money is. 

I recently learned about the BRRRR method as an alternative to just getting traditional, conventional mortgages on rental properties, since I heard that there's a limit of something like 4-10 mortgages you can have taken out in your name at a time.

For me vacant land would come with far more headaches than a traditional rental.