Not every house purchase needs to be a house hack and making a little extra on the land could just be a nice bonus for living where you want to live. 

For example, finishing in an attic as a bonus room or extra bedroom. 

For multi-family, if there was an option for increase of value I'd of course see that as a bonus for completing the deal too. 

Any appreciation would just be an added bonus but I think stability is my main focus.

Every paycheck, every bonus. 15-20% goes into your bank account that you’ll use for investments (real estate, Roth IRA, 401k if company matching, Vanguard brokerage account).

You could even offer a window unit as a lease signing bonus.

Current rent is well below market value due to seller having a lot of free and clear properties so any cash was a bonus for him. 

The indicators given were a historically high amount of equity in primary residences, employers using bonuses to reward employees vs. salary increases, and college students choosing STEM degrees vs. liberal arts degrees. 

3- does it make sense to set up the contract as 12 months to repay where the lender will just get the cash flow from the property up to the 12th month, then get some sort of bonus interest if it takes longer?

My realtor just told me of a 4 bdrm townhome that is worth ~375K and renting for $1900 with three applicants on day one, and one of them offered a $3000 signing bonus.