MY wife and I aren't some sort of big time multi family real estate agents, but we have done a deal or two a year and have had some success just starting simple (we started by house hacking a duplex), and have incrementally increased our projects. 

Investment Info:Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Elrod.

Also, have you considered other strategies like multi-units or STR/MTR? 

If you want to house hack, the best option in DFW right now is probably to buy 4-5 bedroom home and rent bedrooms. 

Here are a few ideas that might help you navigate this situation:Explore Financing Options: While you've mentioned not being keen on a second mortgage, there might be other financing options available.

They currently pay $1350/mo for the rental.Are there any creative options for making this work or something we're missing? 

Disclaimer - I am not an CPA or attorney but I became financially free doing this for myself after 10 years working as a w2 engineer :( and I am sick and tired of seeing highly educated and hard working professionals getting stuck in the rat race because we deserve financial freedom and the option to do more with it.If you are able to implement a real estate professional status tax strategy (REP) you can use passive losses from syndication deals to lower your ordinary W2 income.

Easy Street is a good option BUT you need CASH in liquid checking/savings for down payment of 20% and BIG chunk 2-3 times loan amount to buy out of a prepayment penalty.

This is not intended to be a discussion about the options for investment, rather how to conduct real estate settlements in non fiat currency.It is (or should be) evident by now that the status of the USD as the world's reserve currency (or at least our exorbitant privilege) will continue to be marginalized in the coming years (and decades) and that investors are factoring in elevated risks of currency inflation and debasement into and onto their portfolios. 

I'd love to get into Multi-Family, but do the numbers make sense?