Instead of renting consider buying a house and getting some roommates when you are ready to get started  investing.  

I would still receive $2800 per month because my roommate is paying the $700 while I pay for the untilies for our unit.

I have a shared house rental and made roommates sign that no overnight guests without my permission, so the girls go to the guys house to sleep over instead of bringing them to my house.)

My bank loan qualifications don’t provide much but I am looking to bring in a roommate or two with me regardless to cover the mortgage.

Then moving into property B (duplex would be ideal) for a year and renting out our area in property A to a third roommate.

Also the reason my rent does not double when I switch to conventional loan (me fully renting out units) is I have a roommate in my unit contributing to rent plus the other unit paying rent.

House hacking with roommates maybe easier to start with given that the prices for multifamily properties are high at the moment. 

Even adding one roommate to your living situation is financially not much different than owning a duplex and living in one half. 

Continued flooring installation myself which was the bulk of the outstanding work. image1Took on my first roommate in mid-July, a good friend who I’ve worked with on several projects around the world and best yet, a top notch handyman.

It has a great roommate floorplan with all living space downstairs and two master suites upstairs.