@Kana Watanabe I have seen @Christopher J Driscoll Designs for his ADU and they are amazing, He has gone through the process of speaking with a lot of GC's in the area so hes a great resource for all of the above.

I miss the days when the fifth of December came around and you could buy a house for next to nothing in my target area if you could guarantee closing before Christmas.

I was wondering if any real estate agents might have any advice or resources that I can use to begin my journey?

I’m starting by using the resources available in this forum and educating myself on finding, analyzing, and financing deals. 

Don't waste that resource on bad assets.  

Meetup.com is a good resource for those but some of the groups will also post here on Bigger Pockets Marketplace too.

See what kind of leverage you can get, and what resources they will require from you. 

BiggerPockets has already been a great resource, and I’m excited to dive deeper into the real estate world.

I am also curious how folks are dealing with appraisals as appraisers don't view these properties as duplexes and I've heard of investors having issues with cash out refinances not hitting their target values where had the home been designated a duplex (lets say in a two detached property scenario) it would have easily appraised in their target value. 

Targeting the right audience, with the right message.