Many tenants will choose to live with an inconvenience, yet will leverage something like this to live rent free and THEN sue the landlord.1)  Hire an attorney ASAP!

Multi-family homes (if any are even available) are through the roof, as are taxes, and it's very competitive.My goal at this point is to live rent/mortgage free while breaking into real estate investing.When I run numbers for a house hack whether it needs rehab, doesn't need rehab, I put 20% down or consider an FHA...my income from rent doesn't come close to covering my expenses to at least break even.I've seen some creative things on this forum using all sorts of strategies and creative financing options (hard money to eventually refinance etc) but they all seem to work with flips or buy and holds or when the buyer doesn't need to live in his purchase.Any creative financial angles or over all strategies that I can make work? 

My nerves and liver aren’t going to make it :)

First, here's the link to submit written testimony Just cite your displeasure with these proposals and please don't submit anonymous testimony, it gets discarded.The deadline to register by zoom is 3:00 PM today (2-27) to speak on Zoom at the hearing, here is the registration linkThe 3 Bills We Are Concerned AboutHB 6781, AN ACT ADDRESSING HOUSING AFFORDABILITY FOR RESIDENTS IN THE STATE.Link To The BillThis Bill contains these negative provisions;Increase fines to $2,000 a day for failure to maintain a property when it could be tenant caused damagesEliminates Lapse of Time Eviction in building with 5 units or moreRequires landlords to notify tenants of their rights in evictionsMakes denying a tenant based on their 5 year old eviction record a discriminatory actHB 6780 AN ACT CONCERNING TENANTS' RIGHTS.Link To The BillThis Bill contains these negative provisions;Limits your application fees to the cost of your screening reportForce owners to accept a tenants copy of a previous screening report and not charge an application fee...even if the report is possibly photo-shopped or from an inferior screening companyEliminates Lapse of Time Eviction in building with 5 units or moreRequires landlords to notify tenants of their rights in evictionsSB 4 AN ACT CONCERNING CONNECTICUT'S PRESENT AND FUTURE HOUSING NEEDS.Link To The BillThis Bill Contains these negative provisions;Institutes a rent cap at 4% increase plus a CPI adjustmentCreates an eviction moratorium between December 1 and March 31 so tenants you start to evict in August live rent free to next April!

I'm a transplant too.

I've known some rent controlled tenants to live rent-free or at 50% reduced rents simply by damaging property and caling up the LAHD.

Some things to look out for would be disposal of medical waste issues, a lot of landlords do not allow abortions on premises, fetal tissue transplants, or medical marijuana, for example.

@Scott Justynowicz I am also a Long Island transplant, have moved all over the Capital Region, and just started investing! 

I understand the Market I am in plays a major factor, but based on my evaluations (with Pro-Forma data), I know the list level price that will allow me to positive Cashflow, break even (live rent free), and negative Cashflow.

There is no reason to buy break-even properties in Dayton or most areas of Ohio.You may have to do a little work to get there, but even as an owner occupant, you should be able to find a good 4 unit that will allow you to live rent free, and still make a profit on top of that.