When I return to the country after my Au Pair contract ends, I hope to live in the property as my primary residence and house-hack as well.I understand that investing remotely makes things more challenging, but I am also ready to be uncomfortable and challenge myself in this journey as I know it is 100% possible.

Best thing to do is buy it as a primary or second home and then transition out into a rental. 

Husband and I have 3 rental properties between us that were we lived in separately at different points before getting married.

Duplex have different zoning that may permit additional units.

You make the difference from your payment and theirs.

In most cases, I don't recommend renting out your primary residence especially if you have no rental experience and that is because usually your primary residence was bought without the idea of renting it out.  

I spent 5 years buying 5 primaries and 5 rentals.

Hello all,I just closed on my primary residence with an FHA loan so I am not able to house hack since I am obligated to live in the residence for a year.

The good news is you don't need a specialty loan for a house hack, just a traditional primary home loan.

The difference is $4k that we could put into savings, or pay down our HELOC.