My advice to you is this: educate yourself (not just the BP calculators), have cash on hand, find a good realtor (which I have but have found all my deals myself, along with my last 3 primary residences), and establish a good relationship with contractors.

The terms haven't been established yet, I haven't even talked to the seller about this option yet.

Comparing to existing builds is tough because existing builds have an established neighborhood, rent history, etc., but it's never a guarantee for either.  

Lenders often require the property "to appraise" to establish the value of the property and the LTV ratio. 

Because there is a considerable amount of equity available I would like to refinance once I have tenants established and use the cash to then apply towards purchase of my next buy and hold property.However the couple financial institutions that I spoke with and currently have relationships tell me that the home will need to be in my name and not an LLC. 

Once you've established a track record of success, subsequent deals will be much easier to fund.

If you have some established credit and can show income / 6-12 months work history (as an electrician), then you could buy a place with up to four units just like a single family with maybe 3.5% (or even nothing) down.

Sounds like a great way to establish trust.

We are planning to use the gains of our home sale on investing, and currently working on getting our business established, and we have a question (may be more a CPA question :) but your feedback is greatly appreciated; do we need to fill a 1031 form?

Although establishing a goal is the easier of the two tasks, the latter tends to be the most challenging.My goal is to become a highly successful real estate agent while also achieving the same level of success as a real estate investor.