Once again, this matches my personal experience that the larger, more expensive properties continue to sell better than smaller properties. 

Highly suggest coming out to some of the local chicago IN-PERSON meetups! 

In addition, you want a separate bank account for the rental property to separate it from your personal accounts.

Private money and personal funds.

I spent many years managing myself and personally collecting rent checks. 

In high-cost markets like Chicago, that can be tough to meet.If you're looking at a duplex, the self-sufficiency test doesn’t apply, so you’d just need to qualify based on your personal income and the rental income your lender allows.If your current lender isn’t familiar with making FHA work in your situation, it might be worth getting a second opinion from someone experienced with FHA multi-unit financing.

We would want to use it for personal use probably one per year. 

Any recommendations on Houston REI groups that meet in person or virtually?

The flippers we personally work with in California have not run into this issue (as far as I'm aware).

For funding, explore options like FHA loans, personal savings, or creative financing, and focus on New Jersey markets that align with your goals, such as Newark for rentals or commuter towns for house hacking.