My employer offers a 6% match to my 401k.

I'm a US citizen but live in Canada so I'm learning about areas and markets to invest... of course, ideally I'm looking for multifamily. 

They have no employer  401k match, no pension, and no employer provided health insurance.Lecturing to landlords who are in this category about giving up their income is no different than telling a bartender they should give up theirs. 

With the principle of leverage in mind, we began to look for homes that were ideal for our family.

I would ideally like my first property to be a house hack (looking for a 2-4 unit building to stay in the residential space and not get into commercial just yet).

Contribute, take advantage of the tax savings and potential employer match, and build yourself some tax-sheltered savings.If you have existing retirement funds outside of your existing employer 401(k), those could be rolled over into a self-directed IRA.  

I'd ideally apply a Moderate policy two months out and then a Strict policy thereafter.What are you guys doing?

An ideal lender is everything you mentioned and who has worked with investors.

Find out what they each want and then go find the deals that match.

So, it would have to be a house that is under-market value, but since i'm new to the field, probably just cosmetic fixes and minor renovations would be ideal!!