I'm married, have 3 kids, and a dog and think we will need a 3 bed/1-2 bath to feel comfortable as our live-in unit. 

I never reimburse for their cleaning, but I am happy to send my people over.Looking at the photos, there appears to be dog hair on the floor and the baseboards were not cleaned.

Last time I saw him in person, tho, he showed me a pic of this dog that "his girlfriend" just bought. 

I have lived all over the world but my favorite as a adult was :  My Victorian Hobby farm in NY along the shores of Lake Onterio, for 14 yrs I lived happily where i raised one obnoxious precious teenage girl who is no longer with us and 3 horses, chickens, peacocks, ducks, dogs and cats. 

I am sure your market has a few investor pages- you can start by just posting there and saying that you are working on bird dogging and want contact for anyone interested in off market deals- you'll get lots of responses, mostly tire kickers, but some legit buyers. 

Single guy living there with multiple dogs.

It sounds like you're talking about bird dogging: Identifying and perhaps even cultivating profitable deals but not getting them under contract.

I would house hack but it doesn’t seem like an option with a wife, four kids, and a dog.

I always share with my clients "I would never let my children be the excuse not to invest but the reason why we invested"   My background is house hacking moving property to property with 4 kids and 2 dogs.

(Not a lawyer, just a lady with a service dog.)