Under contract on my first duplex! What comes next?

[Justin Bearce]

As the title suggests I am under contract for my first duplex scheduled to close next month.  It will be a house hack as I will be occupying the downstairs apartment while renting the second floor. It's currently occupied with rents well below others in the area. For a 2 bedroom in the area with heat and hot water included I see $950 a lot and this is going for $700 currently. What is the best strategy for raising the rent? I plan on doing some work to the first floor unit when I move in so i would like to not worry about finding a new tenant for a while. To make the numbers start to work I need at least $800 for the unit.  Preferably $900 but I figure it will need some work before I jump to that. So any suggestions on that front?

Secondly, I want to build a portfolio as fast as is reasonable. After this deal I will have between 2-3k to put into savings each month. I like the idea of the BRRRR strategy but with the turmoil in the market atm is that a good idea for a newbie atm? I also like the idea of small multi family properties which I figure are a little safer because if the numbers work out now they should still work out a year from now regardless right? It will just be slower going buying new properties.

any thoughts on these topics are greatly appreciated!  I am super excited to be buying my first rental property!