It feels like neither consumers nor landlords are truly benefiting from this situation.

These tend to have less management headache but still have strong returns and tax benefits. 

The Midwest is going to benefit, no doubt.

They market as “lock in now at today’s prices and reap the benefits later”  but that is just not the reality.

You need to do a cost-benefit analysis to determine if it's worth it.  

But... what I need to review is how this is achieved as I would benefit from building the new unit as an ADU.

Not the most scalable method, but I like the benefits it affords me while I am still a smaller operation.Completing 500 builds in just over 10 years is impressive for someone who just sorta fell into it.

How many years managing is equivalent to the benefit of the 20% down? 

I’d love to hear your experiences, especially if there were unexpected benefits or challenges.Looking forward to your insights! 

That self-sufficiency test is sometimes the killer on 3-4 units, but the conventional 5% down option has benefits too and that's how I got into my first multi-unit househack.