Not sure what to do with myself during first property purchase

[Erik W.]

Although I'm interested in both commercial and residential real estate buy and hold investing, I felt that the ideal way to start out is by house hacking a duplex. As of late, I'm starting to think this may be a poor strategy for me.

After having watched the duplex market in my area for a number of months I have developed a new concern. I've noticed that the same duplexes in my area have been sitting for months without selling. I know duplexes are less liquid than single family residences, but this is a bit ridiculous. Being this would be my first purchase, the last thing I need is to get in a situation where I need to get rid of the asset and be stuck with it. In the future with more experience I would be more willing to purchase less liquid assets, but for right now I don't feel it's right for me. This is not set in stone, just my current view.

My other issue is what to do with myself. I used to live in a town about an hour from where I'm at now. When I decided to move back to my home town, I decided to move in with family due to some outside circumstances. Those outside circumstances have for the most part been resolved, and I am now wanting to live by myself. This makes things a little more complicated as I am not sure what to do with myself. This is another issue with the duplexes. In many cases the duplexes available in my area were run down and in bad parts of town. I would prefer not live in a place that has either of those two attributes. Regardless of property types I see two main methods to achieve my first property:

1. Purchase a place and move in:
   1. Pros: Gives me a new place to live right away and allows me to take advantage of an FHA mortgage.
   2. Cons: Delays my ability to rent it out by 12 months due to FHA restrictions. That one is not a huge deal, but something to consider. The bigger issue though is that even if I move out after a year and find a renter right away, I won't be able to get a mortgage on another SFR as I believe I would need around 12 months of income from my first SFR. I would rather not move back in with family, but renting while paying a mortgage is an expensive proposition.
2. Purchase a place and rent it out immediately:
   1. Pros: No waiting to rent out my investment property.
   2. Cons: No FHA loan, so much higher down payment. Stuck with family or living in a rental for 12 months. A long vacancy could put me in a financial bind if renting.

Do any of you have any suggestions on how to handle this situation? I'm not completely unwilling to rent or continue to live with family, but want to make sure I know all of my options. I'm also not totally against a room mate, but as of current I do not know anyone who I could room with.