@Nathan Killebrew what your pops is telling you is only one of several reality checks BRRR investors with aspirations to truly scale encounter. 

I’m probably looking for something on the lower end of the scale since my use is minimal.

I've come to the conclusion the best route forward is to scale up and go straight to commercial properties (4+ units).

What happens if you then decide to scale up and rent out the side you initially lived in?

isnt that a little long if you want to scale quickly? 

I've come up against it w/ SBA loans, smaller scale.

Our business goals are as big as the West Texas sky, so we are eventually hoping to scale from SFHs all the way up to units with 100s of doors under one roof in large metro areas.

Reason being that if you want to scale and purchase more deals, eventually, you will not want to handle property management in the long-term.

@Adam BushI'm happy to provide a few thoughts as to why it makes intuitive sense.1) Small multifamily buildings are treated as personal investments, while large complexes are operated as businesses with operating budgets, staff, and capital expense set-asides.2) The economies of scale are better on large multifamily buildings (20 roofs in a 200 unit complex is less cost per roof than than 1 roof on a 10 unit)3) The law of averages works better with a greater number of units.

Use other peoples money and scale quickly with lots of strings attachedSounds like you're on choice A, so now its just a matter of sticking to fundamentals.