Caleb did not use a traditional lender like you are referring to, so he did not have many of the costs you listed, and/or they were different for his particular deal.

I have explored getting a traditional 7year loan on the property at 4-7%; but a commercial banker has recently suggested getting a CD and taking a loan against it at 2-3% while earning close to 1.5% on the secured funds.

@Christian Bors Good point regarding affordability for the remaining two, and it's something I've considered.  

This one can be a bit trickier because not only does it take more time and huevos to execute, but also many of these homes are so distressed that they may not qualify for traditional funding, so you may need all cash, seller financing, private or hard money loans to buy and fix before refinancing to traditional mortgage.Another nifty trick is that if you look at HUD foreclosure homes (can lookup online) they are normally open to buyers who will use it as a primary residence first before they open it up to investors.

I'm looking at duplexes through quads with homeowner/traditional financing in the greater Detroit area/southeast Michigan.

@Brian W. my comment was strictly with regards to non-bank or non-traditional lenders.

Hi @Will Spence, I know your question is several months old but I just wanted to say I have found that even if traditional mortgage lenders won't lend on these small purchases, some commercial lenders might.

Is it better to go with a more modern streamline look, or is  it better to stick with something more traditional?

Hi @Fred SchonfeldAre you looking to go to traditional lenders? 

I imagine that they would be able to get traditional financing on a house like my example, barring any odd circumstances (high DTI, bad credit history, no creidt, etc.).