For me I just feel better studying first to gain a basic knowledge and then seeking to start to make some deals.  

I have multiple (jumbled) ideas below:- Wait until I have owned property for 2 years, sell it and use 1031 to reinvest gains into additional properties.- Refinance / cash-out refinance to pull equity out of current home, in order to leverage cash for new deals.- Keep current house and partner with private lender to help buy an additional propertyAll of the above scenarios are assuming I need to put 20% down because I can't get a loan without putting that much down for an "investment property".

When you sell, you subtract your basis in the property (the original cost and any improvements), and the remaining amount is a capital gain.

IRR is just one metric, as lane mentioned, its easy to manipulate with a huge exit gain in year 5.CoC is another useful metric...

You may want to consider living in the property for 2 years so you can get Section 121 exclusion of gain on sale of primary residence, especially during our market.

My favorites are The Book on Managing Rental Properties by Brandon Turner and the The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs by J Scott.House-hacking is one of the best ways to get your first property AND gain valuable experience.

Or is the main  argument for MFs over SFs that an investor can gain experience with say a quad and then move on to a >4 unit apartment complex - so potential grow really big eventually?

Your future gains come from getting the house at the right price in which you can be out of pocket for as little as possible or make money in the end.

Maybe they have owned it a long time and capital gains are an issue as they were for you?

If you end up living in it for 2 years and sell before year 6 you'll get capital gains rates on the sale.