The only creative way I can see (obviously not knowing enough details) is an owner carry with you as the operator and a JV partner as the financial backing.

I only have a single rental (at the moment) and a simple W2 job.

Put in about ten grand and a summer's worth of weekends in sweat equity and the deal is very sweet.

And as others have posted, make sure you are using a good title an escrow company to facilitate this.

I'm imagining something more like add a wall, turn a bedroom into a kitchen-living on one side and a formal dining room into a bedroom on the other side, maybe add a half bath in each unit.

A 5 unit multi family and a duplex plus my dad's house.

I've worn three hats in the seller financing world (as a property buyer, as a property seller offering terms, and as an investor that buys seller financed note). 

I picked a mentor and a team to follow and the rest worked out

It seems like you have some very solid goals of multiple income streams, and a well calibrated risk tolerance. 

For any value add project, the primary evaluation is based on the numbers.Provided you have trustworthy teammates for the renovation side and a competent agent on the valuation side, you'll perform no matter the location.It seems your weighing factors that relate more towards long-term investing and where your asset will appreciate the most.In respect to emerging markets, you'll want to use characteristics like population growth, employment growth, safety trends and path of progress.