Unless you have a large amount of savings to use as a deposit on a large number of doors from the get go it will take many years to achieve financial freedom.Flipping on the other hand is a full time job with no guarantees.

It has a large house (about 5,000 square feet) with an attached commercial storefront (about 900 square feet).

With regard to getting the first deal done, you've taken care of a large piece, the financing. 

I contacted a lender from a large bank and she told me that since I have never owned a property no lender would lend to me for investing.

The multiple listings allow you to maximize occupancy and accommodate both large and small groups.

Provo for example, actually defines an owner occupant as having at least 50% or greater than 50% ownership because landlords used to do the ownership thing back in the day.The best "loophole" is to rent it to one large/extended family. 

Since I paid cash initially, this cashout is very large compared to partial down-payment investments.

Anyone invested in this as a small, medium or large investor?

I plan on doing this by growing a large portfolio as quickly as possible while being careful not to over-leverage myself.In order to grow my portfolio as quickly as possible without over-extending my debt, I will create equity through value add opportunities.

If the seller says no to allow your offers, because the answer is always yes if you keep asking the question in a different format :).