And it's going to take more work, especially if you decide to go it alone and try to build a team yourself. 

I’m having a hard time finding information on the financing piece of how house hackers build their real estate portfolio – is this plan generally sound?

The square footage of the building can dictate whether or not additional residential rental units can be present.

I am wanting to purchase land and build a small cabin to STR (& personal use) in the North GA Market. 

Whether it is flat fee or percentage, the seller is going in know what they will be paying to sell the asset and factoring that into their asking price. 

I've included an example below to help illustrate this.So different lenders have different rates (which do vary even for DSCR loans) but these are factors they all consider.See example below:DSCR < 1Principal + Interest = $1,700Taxes = $350, Insurance = $100, Association Dues = $50Total PITIA = $2200Rent = $2000DSCR = Rent/PITIA = 2000/2200 = 0.91Since the DSCR is 0.91, we know the expenses are greater than the income of the property.DSCR >1Principal + Interest = $1,500Taxes = $250, Insurance = $100, Association Dues = $25Total PITIA = $1875 Rent = $2300DSCR = Rent/PITIA = 2300/1875 = 1.23DSCR lenders generally let you vest either individually or as an LLC.

I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and have recently embarked on my journey as a real estate investor.I aim to build a solid foundation in real estate investing that allows me to achieve financial freedom.

We own a 7 unit apartment building at the beach and would like to replace our present bank loan with private funding of some type. 

Should I refi and get extra cash immediately or should I refinance and lower my payment to build better cash flow?

This depends on a ton of factors, mostly risk.Without a doubt it provides risk mitigation if your property is in a LLC.