You should be able to go as low as 10-15% down payment with your experience.Ground up Financing: Most "ground up" financing options require a bit of experience - 3-5 exists (rehabbed & sold or rehabbed & refinanced in the last 3 years).

We are in a safe community, so tenants can choose to leave the door unlocked or hide a key under the mat.

In my opinion, it is better to choose an area with a path to progress. 

The property itself should bring in revenue ( even if you choose not to live in one side) and generally a bank will accept a portion of that rental income into the calculation. 

if it's low and you sell, that rate is gone forever. 

Don't let the idea of a low interest rate trap you from upgrading to size/scale.

You could then choose a broad based index fund if you wanted to invest in the market.  

We have an extremely competitive market, huge demand and low inventory.

When revenue is low in the first couple of year, so is the interest payment.  

There are approximately 28 Multi-family duplexes active on the MLS ranging in prices as low as $50,000-$219,000 with a median rent of about $929.