Hey Spencer - It sounds like a great idea to generate some extra income with your empty room!

It may sound nice to pay a 6% management fee but the extra fees can add up to be more than the other company that charges 10% with no additional fees.

We could get by on using about half of it if we had to. 

A lot of it is the standard Buildium application, most of the extras I put in there after reading Landlording on Autopilot by Mike Butler.Application fee needs to cover all your screening costs. 

Originally this started as a house hack I have recently moved out and it is now a 2 unit with one half being furnished rental.

We are in PA about a hour and half from the poconos.

However, with the rates and conditions of any triplexes and fourplexes we could find (we did find one, but it's in the Pendleton Heights suburb of KCMO, so we were worried about it being too dangerous of an area), we were wondering if it's worth it to buy a duplex and rent out the other half to help pay the mortgage, or if it's more worthwhile to rent an apartment and try to save up to buy a residential or commercial MFH later?

It may sound nice to pay a 6% management fee but the extra fees can add up to be more than the other company that charges 10% with no additional fees.

My ultimate goal is to be done with my 9-5 in a year and a half and only be doing 100% REI. 

Quote from @Devin James: Quote from @Scott Mac: Maybe the infrastructure, electrical grid, water sewer, pavement thickness on the roads, cannot handle the extra people in the area.