If so building a DADU / Backyard cottage is a no brainer, as the main hurdle for these builds is the difficulty in financing them.

Agents/sellers all around are experiencing more difficulty in this price range. 

I spoke to a real estate friend of mine and he gave me the low-down and difficulty of dealing with REO brokers.

Would you say that finding such a banker is difficult? I

For my house, it took me here:http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/Agencies/budfin/t...I actually found that a couple days ago, but the searches on the website aren't working (it says "technical difficulties"), so I'm not able to explore it more.

And just add to the conversation, the reason I feel that starting in a SFH is a wise move is because I have a family of 6 including myself so finding a MFR that accommodates us is proving to be difficult, I figure that I can have a house for my family and rent it out when the time comes while learning how to do minor jobs myself without a huge rush, IF SOLD I would aim for avoiding the capital gains tax after at least 2 years.

I'm based in NYC that makes it very difficulty for someone without experience and capital.

What's the level of difficulty on a scale from 1-10?

I understand and willing to do the legwork for people, but I'm also having difficulty finding ways to add value to the relationship.So to those who have been in the game for a long time what were ways you added value to a relationship when you were first starting out.

I noticed that many on this blog cite having difficulty finding a realtor to work with, but I'm not coming across serious investors that don't already have commitments to realtors.