Transition - Owner-Occupied Duplex Resident, Move to SFH

[Rob Gerstenberger]

My wife and I live and own a duplex in a part of town that is growing, easy to find tenants, and has solid market rents.  Our unit is the "owner's unit", meaning it has stainless appliances, hardwood floors, and granite counters.  This is a step above the other unit in the duplex.

A few years ago, when we were considering a move to a SFH to get a little more space, we got pre-approved for a mortgage that assumed that when we moved out, the unit in our duplex that we occupy would be vacant. This reduced our overall preapproval amount.

Has anyone had experience showing that your unit is easy to rent out?  It would be silly to move to a short-term apartment, just to rent out our unit and show a full duplex completely rented out.  I'd appreciate your thoughts!