Live in one side for a year to meet your residence requirement for the loan.3.

I still watch them sometimes since every day, while eating lunch at work, I watch real estate-related videos on YouTube. 

Just to confirm my understanding, you are living in a side by side duplex in Miami - you want to renovate the other side that you aren't living with a renovation loan?

I assume you’ve got a loan that says you will be living there.

You have the ability to sell while limiting your capital gains tax because you lived in 2 of the last 5 years. 

They knew a dog lived there when they rented it and they rented anyway, knowing they had allergies and chronic asthma they rented a home with carpet. 

I'm from Leesburg, and I can tell you—multi-family is a solid choice (piggybacking the previous comments which I agree 💯), especially with that live-in/rent-out, house hack strategy.

Very generally speaking the areas of Hartford and New Haven where you can hope to attract qualified tenants (assuming that is your goal) are very expensive because most of the people with something to lose that live in these cities generally live in 2 or 3 areas.

I am exiting the rental market here (love living here tho). 

I make around 180k living on the west coast.