Complete newbie looking to house hack. Need some advice.

[Joseph Baiera]

My wife and I both work full time and are looking to house hack for our first home with plans to purchase more rentals in the future and build a steady income for retirement. Before starting we were hoping to get some insight from people who know the pro's and con's of the business.

1. What type of business? I was thinking of purchasing a duplex and transferring ownership to an LLC.

2. If I purchase a duplex, can I write off expenses against my working income? For example, I made 50k at my day job and the income from my duplex for the year was 10k.  Total income for the year 60k. Can I then write off 30k in expenses towards fixing up the duplex?

3. Can I write off the purchase of a vehicle?