As far as I understand, as I am living in it, I was able to get cheaper down payment options.

I was looking for some advice (viable target areas in Cleveland or Ohio in general, financing options and credible PM/realtor contacts) from the experts here though especially if you are in a similar boat as mine (reside in Canada/Ontario area and invest in US). 

Over the past several years it has seem there have been more and more options.

It really depends on your comfort level and long-term goals, but even if you want to get into multifamily long-term, SFR may be the best option to gain some comfortability.

If you have equity and decent credit, a conventional Fannie Mae HomeStyle (or the Freddie Mac version) would likely be the better option instead of an FHA 203k loan (which will require a 3rd party HUD consultant to oversee the deal in addition to having the contractor involved). 

I'm looking to identify a builder with the following characteristics:1) Eager to grow his/her company and reputation in the market2) Has produced at least five high quality builds in Arizona which are at least 4K sq ft  3) Has proven track record of completing builds in a timely manner4) Personal capital to allocate to projects (optional, but ideal)Please reach out to me if you or someone you know might fit these criteria. are you set that you want luxury?

Seems so much harder to actually execute.

I am a land lord but don’t own my residence.What are my options?

I like the tub (it wasn't cheap, about 12 grand) but there's not great service options where I live and not sure if I would get it again since I mostly have to take care of it. 

Private Money Lenders are going to be hard for a primary residence as it is an investment and typically they want to see a return prior to two years - also, the house would need to be purchased at a discount which would limit your options on a primary residence - now if you are looking for something that needs some work that you are planning on fixing up, it would be a little more feasible.