I never considered it before, because the bulk of my customers came through VRBO.  

You can still tap into equity of your principle residence needed through a second mortgage or in some cases financing strictly based on the investment property itself. 

At the moment it is not clear how much it greases the algorithm, if at all, because when I zoomed in on the extent of my market's city limits and clicked the Top 15 listed only a third had the trophy, with 1 top 55 and 4 top 10%s.

We would love to help guide you through the process. 

Once the mortgage is paid off (by the tenant through rent), your cash flow will increase or as they pay down the mortgage, if you sell it you have a nice chunk of change.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to drive through a potential community with my parents.

When you buy deep and try to reno, have a RE attorney besides you to walk through how to form teams and construct contracts to people work for you and you don't get tied up.

Now, houses in those zips that need work are 150+ per square foot on the MLS, and even through some of the wholesalers.Duplexes/Tri/Quads are not common here, and typically in rough areas. 

If you haven't put the best possible,  experienced people around you, I might suggest getting involved with your local real estate investment groups...many of these people will have experience and contacts that could help walk you through the steps required to make this project safe and profitable or to show you why it might be something to walk away from. 

Hard Money loan through Blink lending.