My question is should my first home purchase be my permanent residence or should it be the beginning of my real estate investing portfolio?  

You don't want anyone learning how to do them on you.You also could potentially do "hard" money loan for purchase and rehab, then when it is done put traditional 30 year permanent financing in place.DSCR will typically be only for rentals after reno and rent will need to be a $1 or more above your PITI....So if your PITI is $1000, you'll need rent of $1001 or more....so you can back into the math to see how much loan/leverage you can use. 

`````````````````````````````````````````````````If you want home ownership, I would buy on contract for deed, make 12 payments, and refi into permanent FHA financing.IMHO, contract for deeds are not even close to lease options.  

Before the pandemic, we were looking at using an FHA one time close construction to permanent loan to build our primary residence.  

Here in Maryland the $ 75 per man hour labor   is about right on .    

Instead, the management companies are permanent and can charge whatever fees they want, thus making a big profit?

The HOA decided to permanently close the door until the repairs can be completed.

.--(1) Any servicemember may terminate his or her rental agreement by providingthe landlord with a written notice of termination to be effective on the date statedin the notice that is at least 30 days after the landlord's receipt of the notice if anyof the following criteria are met:(a) The servicemember is required, pursuant to a permanent change of stationorders, to move 35 miles or more from the location of the rental premises;(b) The servicemember is prematurely or involuntarily discharged or releasedfrom active duty or state active duty;(c) The servicemember is released from active duty or state active duty afterhaving leased the rental premises while on active duty or state active duty statusand the rental premises is 35 miles or more from the servicemember's home ofrecord prior to entering active duty or state active duty; (d) After entering into a rental agreement, the servicemember receives militaryorders requiring him or her to move into government quarters or theservicemember becomes eligible to live in and opts to move into governmentquarters;( e) The servicemember receives temporary duty orders, temporary change ofstation orders, or state active duty orders to an area 35 miles or more from thelocation of the rental premises, provided such orders are for a period exceeding 60days; or(f) The servicemember has leased the property, but prior to taking possession ofthe rental premises, receives a change of orders to an area that is 35 miles or morefrom the location of the rental premises.(2) The notice to the landlord must be accompanied by either a copy of theofficial military orders or a written verification signed by the servicemember'scommanding officer.(3) In the event a servicemember dies during active duty, an adult member of hisor her immediate family may terminate the servicemember's rental agreement byproviding the landlord with a written notice of termination to be effective on thedate stated in the notice that is at least 30 days after the landlord's receipt of thenotice.

If not, I would be leaning towards keeping the current lease in place - both names on the lease - and have an eviction notice with both names on it ready for the first opportunity to enforce it.If they do split permanently, they will both have (or should have) legal representation to protect their respective financial interests.

If not, they don't want to sell their house and move somewhere temporarily until they can secure another permanent house.