As a 5-unit, or even an 8-unit, you can find residential lenders offering residential DSCR loans.

Who is going to get the construction loan and be the guarantor for it?

VA loan

If they use hard money lenders those loans are EXPENSIVE loans because they are short term loans with no early payment penalties and they will also finance rehabs.

I am researching using a standard 203k loan in MD for my primary residence. 

VA loan Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

For a house hack with a first time buyer most will use a fha loan which allows for a 3.5-5% down payment.

.• Financing: Explore options like FHA loans, conventional loans, or portfolio loans.• Cash Flow Analysis: Use a tool or spreadsheet to calculate projected cash flow.Based on your estimate of $300 per month in cash flow, make sure to verify that this aligns with your financial goals and risk tolerance.

Hard money loans are considered private loans so each hard money lender will have different requirements.You could find several HM Lenders if one were to stop lending to you past a certain point, but I can't really see a scenario in which you would want to have more than 2-4 HM loans going on at once.

Kind of hard to buy a reperforming 2nd with little equity for a realistic return if less than 12% when you can get 12% investing in a portfolio of such loans or better run by a company with a solid track record.