I'd buy where you live (within an hour or so) for your 1st investment!

@Hudson Filippi What part of Northern MN do you live in now?

Too bad you can't buy something owner-occupied, put 5% down with the best interest rate, live in it for 12 months (and fix it up), rent it out and repeat the cycle.Here's some other info you might find useful:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Hopefully you guys can help answer this for me......I live in West Virginia and primarily invest outside the state. 

Steve lives and works in a market with the same price points your talking about.. 

House hacking in Chicago can be a game-changer—letting you live for free (or close to it) while building wealth through real estate.

The company I currently use for my other investment homes said they don't offer management for any co living... unless everyone in the home is on one lease.

When you live in that duplex for 2 years and then sell you'll be able to take 50% of the profit tax free (the allocation for the side you lived in). 

The seller was selling to the tenant living in the property.

I live in Fl. where insurance is pretty costly but I am also investing in states where insurance seems less expensive.