Over time, the SFH's will eventually catch up to, and outperform the multi's.  

But from what I learned about it so far makes me wonder why this is not a more popular choice to acquire real estate since your credit is not at risk and also not much money down is needed except enough to catch up on what’s behind and whatever is agreed upon.

It's always easier to catch a dog when you run away from it then towards!

The biggest catch to commercial is that you need more % down (which may or may not be a problem depending on location and size of property), and loan terms. 

The only catch is that you need to get an accurate scope of work with a contractor you trust before you purchase the house.  

I wouldn't fund all $50k+ of a project on CCs because that will catch up with you quickly.

Good catch Steve.

But the supply on their sites seems rather constricted compared to the MLS and biased towards SFH.My rather archaic alternative is to simply monitor Homesnap and Zillow closely with an Excel spreadsheet and hope I can catch deals as they go by and gather all of the other relevant information from other sources.

Another tip that helped me catch leaks is having the water company bill me monthly, instead of quarterly.

Everyday, I quickly analyze a few homes in my area to catch a great deal.