Section 8 can be a great way to fill a unit rather quickly as well as generate income! 

Ideally, I'd love to work with someone who started in the last several years and have scaled their portfolio to 10-20+ units.

It sounds like the idea is good for more of a SFR, or a 1-4 unit rehab but my concern from a lender's perspective is the needed experience in the more 10+ unit space to give "normal" (80% leverage) on a deal like this. 

I was thinking about getting a 1 bedroom for myself and then having 2-3 other 1 bedroom units for renters. 

Investment Info:Large multi-family (5+ units) buy & hold investment.

Conservatively, I would plan on 12-18 months of lost rent (before rehab) and a signifcant amount of money/time to turn over the unit. 

By "partial" I mean renovating the kitchen and bathroom, painting the place, re-tiling the floor and maybe adding some smaller features that can make a difference to prospective buyers, such as new A/C units, new internal doors, or maybe even sell the place furnished (home staging is not really an option here); with no or minimal demolition, and hopefully without electricity or plumbing issues.

Small units in small quantities are expensive to build.  

That's where you buy a 1-4 unit property owner-occupied.

@Nathaniel LinnSecuring your househack now could work if you can time up having one of the units vacant to move into next year.