Focus on properties that will have a strong rental market and a clear path to increase in value.Overleveraging:Some investors refinance and pull out too much equity, leaving them with little to no cash flow.

But remember this is not straight forward as the basis of the new property is derived from the adjusted basis of the relinquished property plus any amount you paid.

You won't be able to buy in an already super trendy area with your budget however, so I'd look just outside of those to areas in the "path of progress".

Is the lot flat and straight forward, or will it need tiering and piering to keep the house structurally sound?

Note I have no illusion that this path will create returns close to equivalent of what I used to be able to achieve via brrrr (I have infinite return on most of my existing portfolio) 2) sophisticated partition via coop/Tic and maybe CA SB9 on my OO.  

In the end you have to decide if you want to put your house/investment in the path of say a hurricane.

I've been focusing on fourplexes as a first investment to spread vacancy risk but the inventory in my driving area is pretty low. I'd like to at least get something in escrow before the Spring. Would you recommend exp...

If an agent really takes the time to understand what's benefiting the client, it's more straightforward.  

Given your situation, a multi-member LLC could be the safer choice to keep things straightforward with the property transfer.

What I've described is a straightforward process.I hope this helps.