There are plenty of off market deals, we provide that to our investors but you have to first know what you are looking for.

I sit on the Board of Advisors for FTF, and have invested in more than a half-dozen deals (average investment of $25K) in the past 18 months. 

I wouldn't consider it risky if you properly understand how to underwrite a deal.

is this a deal breaker?

@George Lods, clearly this is all anecdotal, since we are talking all hypotheticals, or at least not deal specific comparisons.As others noted, there are a a fair amount of efficiencies you can get by building a duplex versus multiple standalone properties.  

Could be a form of equity you could bring to the table in partnering - in addition to cash you could throw in your purchase / sales commission as a form of equity in the deal.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

In the ideal scenario, we picture keeping the property as a cash flowing asset forever and letting our kids deal with it after we die.BUT, if that doesn't happen, and we decide to sell in 7 years or 10 years, I'm going to kick myself for losing out on the capital gains tax exclusion of $500k.  

@Manuel A Zuaznabar if you can find a house hack (2-4 units if possible) deal that makes sense locally, do it.

Where do you advertise or network for a deal like this?