What would you do in my situation?

[Stephen Spradley]

Hey guys,

A few days ago I posted about a plan I have to acquire a Duplex, rent out the other side and live cheaply. I received a lot of help from some local guys on the forum and it really got me going. The original plan was to try to get one by April when my apartment lease is up, but that is starting to seem a little unrealistic for a lot of reasons. I'm looking for a little bit of guidance as to where to go from here. 

Ignoring the fact that my lease is up in a few months (I don't mind extending), I wanted to home-hack a Multifamily. The market in my area (Fort Collins, CO) seems pretty hot, this was confirmed by a gentleman much smarter than myself in my other thread from the other night. A duplex here is about 350K-400K, and they are rare to find. If I were to use my VA loan from my primary bank, I only qualify for 200K on a good day (my bank is the only one I have inquired with though). I am not going to give up and just mope away with my tail between my legs, but I am wondering if maybe I should pursue a different avenue for the time being, like a live-in flip, or something like that. I am very new at the real estate game and only have not even a year of studying it as a hobby, so I wanted to get your guys ideas. I am willing to try anything really, and will enjoy the learning experience, but I also work full time and am a full time student so time is pretty constrained.

Thanks ahead of time for the help!