I’m currently solidifying my business plan that outlines my strategic goals and objectives for my real estate investments.

I would say put as little down as you can (you may be OK with 3% or 5%), as long as it's still cash flow positive and your net operating income is at least 20% over your mortgage payment (principal and interest), which is also called having a debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) >= 1.2If you do that you may have more available for a down payment on a fourplex, which you also may not need 20% down for.If you still find that you don't have enough for the down payment on the fourplex, you could try strategically improving the duplex to try to increase its value, and then refinance a year or more later (similar to the BRRR strategy).You can also try finding a second property (fourplex/whatever) which has equity and which you could buy with seller financing, where again you may not need as much down or may be able to negotiate creative terms which make it work for you.If prices just don't make sense and you aren't able to buy and have positive cash flow with a DSCR >= 1.2, it may also just be better to wait until the market cools down.

If strategically that gives me an advantage then I am all ears; I am trying to absorb knowledge and not stick to potentially preconceived notions that aren't beneficial to my "business plan". 3: Financing is good for me, but I've never shied away from discussing deals that make sense.

Just learning about REI and formulating my first steps on this road. 

Instead, the investor should use the information provided by other parties to formulate their own opinion.

I must say you are taking the right steps at becoming more educated on investing in real estate.There's lot of useful and strategic planning tips on the forums and site. 

Trying to get a feel for the market direction with the interest rates being what they are and a lack of inventory in my desired area I’m trying to strategize a next move mindset.

It only takes one lender to make a market with a strategic reason to step out and differentiate themselves through a change in risk tolerance, allocation, new source of funds, and geographic or asset need.

I've heard good things about Strategic Tax Planning- Michael Hudak.

Joint ventures, partnerships, how they're typically structured when we raise private passive money and we're the deal-finders, strategic partners, management etc.