Left almost nothing in the deal and got a great equity capture at the buy.

Building a trusted team is key, so starting that process as you actively search for your market will put you in a strong position moving forward.

Are you cashing out the equity and using additional revenue streams to get the 2nd one?

Any positive cash flow should go towards paying off debt.

And right now the bigger cabins are not a good cash flow play but might be a great equity play when you look back in two to three years.  

I currently live in it as my primary residence but had plans to eventually rent it out and then cash out refi once I reach 20% equity in the property.

Quote from @Anthony Maffei: I purchased a two-family property in 2017 and now have around $500K in positive equity.

Pulling equity out of a property is another form of loan.

Looking for high equity growth areas is a bit of a gamble.

The reason I say this is that no matter what your remodel if you are doing a lot of the work yourself (way to max out equity growth) then maybe look for an even larger remodel than you had thought about?