That said I am also looking to invest in MIL, but only in mid size 5-12 unit MFRs where I can afford them

Zip codes often span school districts and city linesIdeally you want a house in the same area (say 1/4 mile), built around the same time, similar size and condition, in the same school district and city.  

On one hand, the appraisal and inspection both considers this as part of the official living size of the property.

More of a country subdivision with lots in the 2 to 21 acre sizes. 

In the two year period I will also find and screen tenants and act as property manager (they don't want to be landlords) in return for 10 - 15% of the rents to go into a fund to go towards the next house.I want to create a deal where they have confidence I am going to buy all 3 and I am not over extended.  

I've been manually using the municipal GIS Mapping and Data service, which allows me to manually zoom in on properties and determine the owner, but I would much prefer to be able to filter the info first for parcel size over 5 acres and THEN use GIS to tell me the owner, parcel size, address, tax info, value, etc.Thanks

If you have a PM in place that you trust, or you are managing yourself and do a great job of screening tenants, you can control another very important variable yourself. 

I can share my version.I also require the new tenant to complete screening before they can be added to the lease.

Best rates over 740.Regarding cash, $8000 is a great start but it will all depend on the size of the loan.

It also provides accounting software, online applications, screening, eleases, happy inspector software.