With these smaller commercial MFRs, the owners aren’t always savvy about how those properties are actually valued, believe it or not.

But sellers aren’t going to give these out to every tire kicker that comes along, and sometimes they don’t want to provide them even when under contract.

We have looked at various condos, and although nice, it feels like we aren’t getting much value for the price we would have to pay.

They aren't just for first time homebuyers (I actually have one on my home now, and it's not even CLOSE to my first time buying.) but they are for owner occupants.

A bigger worry, in your case, would be where you're going to live; duplexes tend to be in worse neighborhoods (although honestly there aren't any REALLY bad neighborhoods here), so it depends on your tolerance for shenanigans around your family.

I'm set to move to West Lafayette, Indiana in the next month & a half or so and have been looking through listings and one thing I've noticed is that there aren't any 2-3plexes listed at all.Is this just because the rental market is really good for those right now or is there something I don't know about that area? 

This question does not have an answer and if you can't differentiate between them when analyzing individually you probably aren't ready to give them money

But that does not mean people aren't looking for rentals?

If you ultimately want multis in that area, and their aren’t any on the market, it’s going to take some HUSTLE.

I attended my first meetup in Raleigh this month and was quite pleased with the quality and quantity of people there.