Looking to buy first house hack duplex/townhouse in SC

[Hunter Burrell]

Hi BP!

I'm new to the real estate world and am very interested in getting started with a house hack. I've made some small plans but still can't see myself getting started for a couple reasons. If anyone could help guide me I'd really appreciate it.

Currently living in Long Island, NY paying $850 (utilities included) for a nice private upstairs in a middle aged married couple's house. This is a good deal but my goal is to start building passive income through rental properties. With extremely high property taxes, unfriendly landlord laws, and expensive housing, I think investing somewhere else makes sense. My best friend lives in Daniel Island, SC, and after researching it a bit SC seems like a great place for me to buy my first house hack, most likely a duplex. I want to get land lording and maintenance experience with a small property while also hopefully living there for free or close to it.

I'm mainly interested in a decent area that still has upside and is surrounded by a better area. Based on past posts on these threads I plan to focus on the lower peninsula of Park Circle, along with Larson, Hanahan, Goose Creek, Ridgeville, Moncks Corner, and Summerville. Would anyone have an opinion on how I can start narrowing this in to just one or two locations? Also while searching through Zillow there seems to be a bunch of townhomes where the numbers seem to make sense but I'm not sure if I can trust some of the estimated expense numbers. 

I think ideally I would contact a real estate agent in the area so I can discuss what I'm looking for, but since I won't be able to get financing yet I don't want to waste any agents' time. I have a major credit problem right now which I am trying to work on. Currently low to mid 500s so I'd need at least another 100 points to qualify for an FHA. In addition to that I have left a couple of jobs the past couple of years and haven't maintained one steady one like the banks want to see. Because of this, I've thought about the possibility of seller financing but not sure the feasibility of that, especially with everything that is going on right now. Maybe if the real estate market gets really bad, sellers will start accepting creative financing?

I know I'll probably have to wait until my credit improves and I've had a steady job for at least 6 months but I can't help but try to plan some of this out now. If anyone has any suggestions I'd greatly appreciate it! Sorry for the long winded post and thank you for your time!