Is a duplex the best option for our FHA loan?

[Ella Spann]

My husband and I are both still in college and were hoping to buy a residential MFH with a FHA loan, somewhere around Johnson County in Kansas. However, with the rates and conditions of any triplexes and fourplexes we could find (we did find one, but it's in the Pendleton Heights suburb of KCMO, so we were worried about it being too dangerous of an area), we were wondering if it's worth it to buy a duplex and rent out the other half to help pay the mortgage, or if it's more worthwhile to rent an apartment and try to save up to buy a residential or commercial MFH later?