New to house hacking

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Hello Everyone!

I have some questions about house hacking but I thought I would give an intro to give you a better idea of where I am coming from. If you want to just get to my questions I have separated the two. Thank you in advanced for your time and effort to respond!

INTRO: I am a stay at home mom of two young boys (1 1/2 and 3), I love that I am able to do that but we struggle at times and I have been worried about the idea of getting back into the work force when they start school. 5 years of no job history is going to attract no one and besides who wants a boss?... With real estate investing (house hacking) I am thinking we will be able to have someone else pay our mortgage or at least get a good discount on our monthly payments. Right? I am planning on managing the property with my flexible schedule. I have yet to read Brian Turners books but they are on my list of things to do before we buy anything; which is not for another year. We have some debt we are climbing out and plan to move across country (Texas to Idaho) before we buy anything. Thank you for taking the time to read my intro and now onto my questions!

I am very new to this whole idea so please forgive me if any of my questions are controversial, vague, silly or can be answered with a most helpful article I have yet to come across.

QUESTIONS:

What are the pros and cons to the different multi family units? Duplex, Triplex, four plex and 5+

I am assuming the obvious as far as the more units the more appliances, space, tenants, fixtures etc. to worry about. 

Is there a multi family unit you would suggest for a green horn in rental properties? and why?

Is there a way that we will not have to pay any part of our mortgage out of our pocket?

This might be market specific but is there a multi family unit renters are more attracted to?

What are some amenities to keep in mind to attract renters? 

I've thought of storage, garage, W/D. Not that we plan to limit our search to only looking at properties with these I just think they are things to consider if possible, it is all about what we can afford at the end of the day.

What are some amenities to not bother with?

Are there any questions I should be asking myself?

Other than Brandon Turner's books are there any other suggestions?

THANK YOU!!