Hi, I am a realtor with about five really good lenders and two that have every investment loan possible. 

Scaling up doesn’t always require 20% down—house hacking (FHA or 5% conventional), DSCR loans, seller financing, and the BRRRR method can help you acquire more properties with less cash upfront.

For your mortgage, a 30-year loan will give you lower monthly payments, which could be ideal while starting out.

The area has seen growth in both the residential and rental markets, making it a potentially lucrative investment.For financing, you can explore options like conventional loans, FHA loans (for owner-occupied properties), or even local programs that might offer lower down payments for investment properties.

Too large to be a normal convention loan, but not big enough to be tasty for an investor that wants some size.

(You said you plan to buy it for the amount of the loan, not the value of the property.).

If you can beat the ROI you're getting on the SFR, then do it.Otherwise, why can't you buy a 2-4 unit with a 3% down FHA loan?

Quote from @Jaycee Greene: I completely understand and I'm sure my fingers are a lot fatter than mine ;-) If you only borrowed $155k, I assume you did a conventional bank or credit union DSCR loan, is that right? 

Higher interest rates on conventional loans may result, as the government backing currently helps keep rates low.

Ideally was thinking a duplex, triplex, or quadplex to get started and use an FHA loan but I also have a private lender that can possibly help with up to $200k worth of a down payment.