Advice on Next Steps Please!

[Gina Huerta]

Hello. We are currently house hacking a duplex. We are 6 months in. Everything is running smoothly. We are starting to discuss next steps. We are considering staying the 2 years to avoid getting taxed if/when we sell. My understanding is when the time comes, we won't get taxed on only HALF of the sales, correct? Since we live in half the property? 

I guess our next question is what to do next. While living in the duplex, we will save some money. But the question is what do we buy next? A part of us wants our own home already. I thought maybe looking into buying a SFH, living in it 2 years and then renting it out. So this way, in 3 1/2 years, we can finally buy our own home. So we'd have our duplex, a SFH, and our own home. Another reason I'm not to keen on a 4 plex is b/c of my dogs. I need a yard. It may seem like a small detail, but that's important to me.

I'm not looking to own and rent a ton of properties. Just a little to help with investing in our future. My concern is with having multiple properties, does our ability to buy a home get more difficult? I know rent offsets, but I've heard ppl say it gets harder to find a lender with multiple properties in your name. 

I know it's a lot to unpack, but if you have any advice or your own personal experience, I'd appreciate the help. Thanks!

[Greg H.]

The answers here must have missed that you are asking about a duplex as opposed to a single family.  You are correct that since you are not occupying both sides that one side(50% if both units are identical) would be subject to capital gains on any profit made.  Profit on the occupied side is exempt up to the 250/500k maximum.  If the square footage is different then a percentage of the entire property would be subject to capital gains

As far as what to do next, that is just a personal decision based on your families wants and needs.  Most people would desire a single family especially if a yard is a priority