No appreciation, little to no growth, and military tenants are not inherently better in any way over civilian tenants.

Hello everyone,I recently (09.18.18) purchased a two family house in Buffalo NY and this is my first real land-lording experience (I don't count my house hack). The rent is way below market value (450$ instead of 700-...

As I begin looking to retire from active duty in the next couple years and transition to the civilian sector, I see real estate playing a big role in my family's future. 

The home is deemed inhabitable due to the unpermitted garage addition, but there are currently tenants living there illegally. 

Obviously this would make it difficult to renovate the other unit of the duplex if it's inhabited and with the 6 month timeline being eaten up due to the 9 month contract, I'm not sure how it's possible to do the renovations on the loan.Has anyone had experience with this?

In the military I found another Ranger and his civilian partner who were flipping houses.

BP,What would you do......Next year I will be transitioning to civilian life, which will likely take me back to Texas. 

I'm looking to learn from others that have taken the landlord approach on either SFH or MFH as their first acquisitions and what are some of the pitfalls to look out for.My background, I'm an Army Veteran that left that world to seek out new opportunities as a civilian.

I want to help people transition from military to civilian life more easily.

However, it is my understanding that she can't sell the house at a 500k discount to us as that would be considered a gift, so this would only work if the house gained 500k over the two years we inhabited it (which is wishful thinking!).