Narrow down, get ready to demonstrate that you can close, and start building relationships with them.

There's no specified time frame but you need to be able to demonstrate that your intent was not just to fix n flip.Other than that, if you qualify for an exchange then doing a 1031 from a Single family into a multi family is fine. 

Price your time in line with industry standards and create upside alignment with promotes, matches on your pref, and other similar types of deal structures that you can demonstrate encourage you to maximize the value to passive investors net of the risks you're taking.  

@Albert Guse  You can try under FHA loan if you can demonstrate that the bankruptcy was caused by circumstances  beyond  your control. 

Make sure the sponsor you choose has a well thought out communication plan that can be clearly demonstrated.

My spouse is her employer, and is willing to write a recommendation letter, so I know she can demonstrate stable employment.

They like any of you wouldn't need to be able to demonstrate the means they would be able to "raise" the money which in effect would allow some opportunistic tenant to raise their hand say they want to be the sole person to buy.

How are these risks accounted for in their financial models and what sensitivity analysis has been done to demonstrate how their margins of safety afford buffers needed? 

Even then, your cashflow is demonstrably affected.

A way that they demonstrate that is creative financing such as partnering or seller holding notes while another is to make additional income streams from a piece of hand that's used as storage by the previous owner.