Not only would it decrease your monthly mortgage but you'd be able to get into it with a very little down payment since you'd be living in one side of it. 

Set up a Joint account with the seller so you can make deposits to continue the automatic payments to the lender until you refinance the property.Thanks,Dustin

Find a down payment assistance program and see what that looks like. 

Treat this property as a business and factor in all the associated expenses, including mortgage payments (if you pull a loan), maintenance, and potential vacancy periods.To simplify management and make this less of a hands-on job, I’d strongly recommend working with a property management company.

The superpower of real estate investing is equity growth: the asset appreciates, while inflation and loan payments erode the underlying debt until you own the asset free and clear and can leverage it again.

Easy Street is a good option BUT you need CASH in liquid checking/savings for down payment of 20% and BIG chunk 2-3 times loan amount to buy out of a prepayment penalty.

Would it be wise to buy the land with cash we have or utilize as down payment to avoid PMI?

This is from the BP rental calculator and is exactly what I'm wanting to see, just with extra payments each month. 

Current landlord questionnaire - we send the current landlord a couple questions about on-time payments, cleanliness, eviction status, etc.2.

My plan was to keep the condo as my residence, but after a year, refinance to fund a down payment on a multi-family property, either out of state or in the surrounding NY area.