It would not liklely get me a house the size of my current home (which would mean lower rent potential), which is why I'm trying to find a way to hold on to it.

What size deals are you looking for?  

Very often the biggest reason people upgrade electrical is to increase service size.

One thing an old landlord told me was he looks for people who "visualize" themselves in the space...looking at outlet location, cable junction location, sizing up the rooms.

The "fortunate" (insert better word) news for investors in these deal sizes is that the same legal fee prisoner's dilemma influences the suit risk after things go sideways or south.  

I would suggest a smaller sized community bank, or credit union.

It's an easy process, but still takes some time to do.You're looking at rates in the 7's on a 3/27 and points range from 2 to 4 depending on the loan size.  

Let's say you have no 4-plexes comps in the area but there are duplex comps:1) 2000SF duplex #1 sold for $200,000 -> unit size: $1000SF2) 4000SF duplex #2 sold for $300,000-> unit size: $2000SF3) 1200SF duplex #3 sold for $150,000-> unit size: $600SFlet's assume to make things easier they are all the same grade of quality and they are all leased to tenants at market values.Duplex #1 sold for $100 per SF and $100K per unitDuplex #2 sold for $75 per SF and $150K per unitDuplex #3 sold for $125 per SF and $75K per unitNow you have numbers you can compare to your 4plex.

The majority of the inventory is studios and 1-Bedrooms (in the cities).Conclusion was essentially that Baby Boomers are down sizing and Millenials are going to need small Single Fams and this is going to create a huge demand for "Work Force Housing" for the next 10 years-ish timeline. 

Sure you can do the deal with a contractor or another investor, but then your renter/buyer pool shrinks in size.