I needed to buy my first investment and also needed a place to live.

I won't be able to make the cottage legal rental without living in the primary home myself.

@William Taylor so many options...Use your RE knowledge to: WholesaleFind rental deals to sell to investors locally or here on BPStart leveraging your personal contacts to build your sales businessFind a motivated seller willing to do seller financing:- Move in worst room or basement, rent out all the other rooms for max cashflow- You could even live in the basement and STR the rest of the house

I am the first in my family to do REI and my goal is to break the tradition of working for a salary for 40+ yrs only to retire on what I hope will be enough to start living freely.

The people within your subdivision may sell the house for you, as they may have family/friends who want to live close to them, and people are always intrigued by new construction in their neighborhood. 

I like the tub (it wasn't cheap, about 12 grand) but there's not great service options where I live and not sure if I would get it again since I mostly have to take care of it. 

Looking for various tax strategies to reduce the reality that a large RV or boat is a grossly depreciating assetI would not have a loan, so claiming it as a primary or secondary residence and claiming the mortgage deduction is not applicable.I sold my primary residence and I have several rental properties which I use as I'm fixing them up.What I'm pondering is living aboard and working aboard developing a new product, while traveling.  

They just live T get you to apply and paper appraisals.

I live and invest in Milwaukee since 2007, so probably a little bias here, but we are set up very well for future growth. 

@Heather Bailey while I live in my duplex, I have a standard Hazard insurance policy and I also carry an additional 500k umbrella policy (optional); both policies cover the entire building, but there's no separating it.