I could probably sell for 850-900k), but realize that there is a greater profit potential.

Selecting areas: Look for neighborhoods with high growth potential, amenities, and public transit when choosing places for house hacking, especially in big cities like NYC.

If you've got the backbone to hold up to any challenges this situation might bring about, you could potentially get a pretty good deal on the house. 

So, the even if the rent does not cover the debt service you can still potentially qualify. 

Determine what you are looking for in the best multifamily property; this could include things like location size condition rental potential cash flow projections value-add opportunities etc.

@Sumit Kaul- Can't really speak to that market in particular but ways to estimate the potential rent include rentometer.com, zillow.com (rent zestimate), and look on craigslist.org.  

The people who will be hurt by this are the people who are wholesaling from other states and the people who don't have the ability to fund a double close. 

I am looking at potential leads in these counties and would like to start lining up the folks. 

 I’m starting out and I’d like to know how would you go about doing an inspection on a potential deal to calculate rehab costs if the property doesn’t have any services turned on?

I do not know of any such sites; however, my clients, when talking to a potential seller, listened to their pain points and tried to understand and empathize with their core 'why?'