Quote from @Destiney E Goins: Hello, I am new to investing, and feel like I have been blindly stumbling through this experience the last few months.

But as of the last 6 or so months I seem to be losing direction.

It's usually better to earn $200 less a month for one year than to sit vacant for two months, particularly in the winter.Consider a bigger drop for a 6-month lease to get through winter, then increase rent or find a new renter in the spring when competition is hotter.

Renting is the last thing I would do personally unless it is less than 12 months max. 

The 2-3% points in extra cost are worth it if you plan on using as I described above because the use would be for a few  months at most and due to that short term use you can survive a rate adjustment up.But, if you have no plan to payoff the debt like when using for a down payment on a long term hold why pay the extra cost for flexibility and have the additional risk of the adjustable rate with the amortization looming when you can get a fixed rate second mortgage. 

Not only would it decrease your monthly mortgage but you'd be able to get into it with a very little down payment since you'd be living in one side of it. 

Not bad, especially considering it’ll take about 9 months for permits and a year for construction.Now, let’s say you decide to do a lot split with two 4,000-square-foot duplexes.

In this case, your monthly payment with 20% down will have a good MARKET rate if your DTI works with a much lower month payment and no mortgage insurance(MI).

What are the comps selling for (last 3-6 months)in the neighborhood?

I read about a 1091 exchange and if i reinvest my money into another property within 6 months then ill avoid paying the taxes on it. is this a good plan, if not do you have any other suggestions.