Buying my first Duplex, or not?

[Daniel Burant]

Hello! My name is Dan.  It's very nice to meet you all. This is my first time posting on BiggerPockets forums. I'm really excited to see such a vast knowledge-base of real estate investment materials and resources here on this website (Including you guys which really makes this place special). 

Here's my scenario...

I'm 29 years old, recently married, and I own a single family home located in a nice neighborhood  that I purchased 50/50 with a partner in May of 2017. We purchased the place for $180k, did a bunch of renovations and recently got it comp'd to sell somewhere between $215-235k. Right now we owe about $172k on the house, and will be somewhere around $170k when we plan to sell it in May of 2019. I figure once our profits are split, between me and my buying partner, we'll see somewhere around $15-20k profit each. My wife currently have around $21k saved up, and plan on having between $25-30k by the time we sell the place. So lets just say we'll have around $50k in the bank when all is said and done.

I'm looking to take my first step into real estate. I've been heavily pondering the duplex approach. I've been thinking that if I could buy a place with 20% down, live in one half, renovate it, and rent out the other to cover the majority of the mortgage payment. There are a lot of up and coming areas where I'm living in Milwaukee that seem like there would be pretty good returns. Is this what you guys would recommend to get my feet wet for my first property? Or should I consider something else? I really want to be smart about this. Any specific numbers that I should be looking for when shopping for a place? Is it better for me to wait until next fall to buy when prices are lower?

I'm not looking for any super specific answers, but just looking for guidance from someone who's been through the same scenario as me.

Thank you so much for reading, I'm looking forward to your replies.

Dan