@Cassidy Burns Was the property a primary residence or purely investment? 

Let me preface this post by saying I havent purchased any investment properties, only my primary residence.

We use the capital for down payments and finance the rest of the purchases through traditional financing.

One of the main questions I’ve had is should I even be considering investing in rental properties if I don’t currently own a primary residence.  

It may be you get a construction loan and then when done you refinance with a more traditional loan.

If you bought the property to flip it (primary intent - resale) then you cannot do a 1031. 

I had purchased a condominium 15 years ago as my primary residence with a 15 year loan. 

So it's a question of should I use my funds as 20% down on an SFR and rent it out as a traditional investment or should I use those same funds as 5% down (or lower) on a fourplex as a primary residence where I take advantage of the financing programs, live in one unit, and rent the others. 

Our primary home is paid off and appraised for about $1m.

My understanding is my max cashout refinance is 75% from a traditional bank.