Further context, I have zero debt, high 700s credit score, one other investment property here locally. 175k in cash available, looking to do DSCR loans or cash and then refinance.Peoria, Illinois- Great need for lower income housing, market appears to have many options.Lawton, Oklahoma- Looking only at extremely cheap properties, as it seems it’s not terribly hard to find renters.

He's an experienced agent. landlord, he has his own Airbnb house in Covington and he understands that part of NKY really well.

Start by leveraging what you already have—consider tapping into equity through a HELOC, house hacking again with an FHA loan, or increasing cash flow by converting a unit to a short-term rental.

Section 8 may seem like a home run but I've seen houses destroyed in a years time, I would steer clear. 

Check with an architect first to be sure you can fit your vision into the existing lot, as it's zoned currently.

My name is  Sherman and currently looking at a house hack on a duplex.

It's one of the last few "affordable" areas near downtown Denver.Are you buying as a primary residence, looking to house-hack with the studio out back? 

If I were your age, I would 100% do a house hack of some kind.  

Perhaps you have coverage for the replacement value BUT the insurance company when calculating the replacement property uses modern building materials like drywall but your original house had plaster which is much more expensive.

You can quickly see why looking at this graph - https://www.visualcapitalist.com/buying-vs-renting-house-in-...You can see how in 2015 the average mortgage was cheaper than the average rent, so it was easier to make the math work with light value add and just buying single family homes.