I'll be calling around, but just curious if anyone has had particular successful with loans for 2-4 unit properties around Buffalo. 

Every little thing you can do to increase your chance of success, you will need to do.

We've been looking out of state a lot as the market here in Utah is crazy but haven't pulled the trigger on anything yet.I recently heard of someone who has been extremely successful in their real estate career who built a new primary residence every 2 years which came with certain tax benefits and profit in an appreciating market.So I thought maybe instead of finding a rental property to buy we could build a new primary residence and rent out our current home which has appreciated about 60% in the 5 years we've owned it.

You can Fix & Flip, you can Buy & Hold, you can do Tax LIens, you can do Multi Family - I was asked what I specialize in so here it is:I write this post to encourage those who want to be successful.

.- I have been a realtor in Sacramento since 2014 and just recently after a couple of successful years as an agent I have gotten serious about investing, all thanks to BiggerPockets as well.

This site and all of you have shown me that it is indeed possible for the average person to become successful through real estate.

If a renter wants to do these things (sublease, room share or AirBnB), what steps can/should they take to make it successful?

Success stories? 

Studying your market and becoming educated will give you the best chance for success. 

That would be active Atlanta agents and brokers who are also successful investors.I myself am not an agent or a broker, but I happen to know a few superstars.