Buying Duplex For House Hacking Out Of State?

[Luciano Hernandez]

We live in a small town in Washington where we have been all of our lives. Jobs in this town are failing badly so we really want to move. Financially we figure we can clear our books and save 10k or more by 6 months from now. We really want to house hack a duplex. Would it be too risky to find the right kind of deal and buy and move at the same time (to a place where we have never lived possibly out of state)? My concern with moving and renting for a while is I am ready to jump in rather than put buying off for longer. PS: I have one child who is 2 years old. I don't know if that is relevant information or not.