Duplex vs Live&Flip

[Giovanni Cantu]

Sup BPers.

Wanting to get my feet wet and own my first piece of RE property. I'm currently working on my reserves. I wanted to get into a quadplex but came to a realization that it was too far fetch for me when my lender ask I need to have 70K total (down payment/closing & 6 months reserve) for a 535k quad. I'm currently working with my RE agent and Lender who are trying to help me find properties and ask if I am interested in a duplex. If I do end up purchasing a duplex for 299k, I would be living in one for about a year and rent out the other at 1300/month, In which I would still be paying out of pocket for the mortgage (est. 2122/month as per zillow) not including the other expense. It will be a negative cash flow at least the first year until I move out. 

I always hear " If theres no cashflow, it's already a bad deal." but at the end of the day I will still own a piece of RE  that will hopeful bring decent cashflow and good equity.

Another idea I had is to do a Live&Flip. I wont be needing 70k upfront thats for sure, so it is a cheaper option for me.  Of course I'll be the one doing most of the work on the property, unless theres something huge I can't do on my own, then I'll hire someone else to do it. I am currently looking at a property 1 in an area I'm sort of familiar with. property is  going for 130K 4bed/2baths and surrounding property are valued at around 100-222k it is off a mainstreet thats 5 mins away from the highway and shopping stores. Only thing with this property 1 it has no interior pictures, so who know if the interior is all sort of messed up costing me more. Property 2 is 148k 2bed/2bath in an area I'm not familiar with but by the location I can see its 3-5 mins away from a college, hospital, and highways. 30-45 min drive to the beach. Surrounding properties going for about 140k-232k. The Interior for property 2  does need some work and some landscaping that I'm willing to learn to add some value. With either property  I will be renting out after a year of living in and move on to something else.

so my question is should invest in a Duplex or Live&flip single family, if so which do you think is the best option and why?

Im