Owner Occupied Duplex or House Hack [First Time Investor]

[Sam Stoffels]

Hello, Everyone! 

First of all, I would like to introduce myself to the forums. I am a recent 22-year-old college graduate with a structural engineering job in St. Paul. I am also almost ready to commence my homeownership and real estate journey investment!

My goals are to gradually build wealth and cash flow over time while having a normal engineering career. slow and steady wins the race I guess :)

I have been considering two common newbie strategies either owner occupying a duplex or to buy a simple single family property such as a townhouse for less but then plan to move within the next year or two and move on to the next property while renting the other. I understand that if I go duplex and owner occupy I will probably not find a unit that will pay all my expenses (mortgage, taxes, Insurance, contingencies etc) so I analyse them as if I am renting both sides which I would intend to do once I move on. My down payment situation would allow me to put 20 percent down on a small townhome or home for a future house rental but I would probably not be able to put quite 20 percent down for a habitable duplex in this market and maintain sufficient reserves. leading to my question for all you MSP investors out there. 

Given your knowledge of this market would you recommend one strategy over the other? I can't seem to find very many duplexes that are at a reasonable price and out of the bad parts of town, but I have found some now and then. I am open to Minneapolis, St.Paul and their respective inner suburbs. 

All discussion or advice is appreciated. Thanks :)