Rezoned Duplex (2 SFH) Advice: To combine or not combine

[Josh Danna]

I just recently bought a property in Indianapolis that was a duplex that was re-zoned by the previous owner as 2 separate single family homes. Unfortunately, I lose some of the benefits of house hacking since it is 2 mortgages and I need to pay taxes on both units and one side doesn't qualify for the owner occupant deduction for taxes (although the overall numbers still work). For closing, I also needed to get separate insurance policies for each side since they were single family homes.

I am trying to figure out the best approach moving forward since I am just starting out and wanted to know if I can (or should) try to combine the insurance policy into a multi-family policy and if I should look into combining the mortgages to one loan on the property that I am currently living in. Not sure if there are tax benefits that outweigh the costs of keeping things separate between the the rental property and the side that I am living in.