Looking for Advice on Manchester, CT

[Anne Cullen]

Hi Y'all,

I am 29 and married.  My husband and I both have regular W2 jobs.  I work as a Nurse Practitioner, he works as a manager of sustainability for a large company.  We've grew up in southeastern CT and recently moved back. My new job will be in Manchester, CT/Greater Hartford area.  We're looking to house hack into our first rental unit by buying a 2-4 unit property as an owner occupant. We've looked at Manchester, it has quite a few multi-units coming available, the city has 6.5% growth and the median family home price is not exorbitant.  We're looking to stay between $180k-300K.  We both have excellent credit and are living rent free with family due to a medical emergency (not for either of us). Only debt is ~ 16k on a car loan. We've got about $30K saved as a downpayment outside of an emergency fund.  Does anyone have any experience with the area or thoughts on Manchester as a potential spot?  Anyone see any concerns with the fact that I've been seeing a lot of duplexes pop up for sale but can't find a lot of available rental units? Is this just seasonality? Or is there an exodus of landlords in the area?

Thanks in advance!