Having said that, if you don't have a primary residence yet, you could look at a multi unit and get started with that.  

On the flip side, you're going to have to ask yourself if you have any attractive alternates in which to invest your money and, preferably, are you willing to live in the in the new investment (i.e. house hack a multi-family property) or significant downgrade your standard of living accommodation.

Is it a Masters Degree type thing?

After that, I would like to flip and possibly manage multi-family homes, single family homes and apartments.

We would like to free up some cash to make improvements on our current home, move out into a multi-family property, rent the other units in the property and then rent our current home. 

A few recommendations:- "E-Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber (this will have you working on your business instead of in your business)- "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter (this provides a more foundational perspective on money)- "Cashflow Quadrant" by Robert Kiyosaki (further builds on the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" foundation)- "Set for Life" by Scott Trench- "Long-Distance Real Estate Investing" by David Greene- "The Book on Managing Rental Properties' by Brandon Turner and Heather Turner- "The Miracle Morning" by Hal Elrod-"HOLD" by Gary Keller (geared toward SFR)-"The ABCs of Real Estate Investing" by Ken McElroy (geared toward commercial investing)"Multi-Family Millions" by David Lyndahl (This is on my list of "To-Reads".

Even a site where you could look up sold multis with prices and then I could reverse engineer. 

(We are currently seeking multi family deals as well.)Background:We own a triplex in Hawaii and three properties in Florida; of which 2 are single family homes and one duplex.

@Ashley WolfeYes you can 1031 a multi unit into any other type income generating real estate.

I personally own 3 multis in Providence and would be happy to answer any questions you may have about the area or tenant demographics from my experience as a landlord.If you have the funding to do a conventional deal that's a great place to be.