Starting with house hacking is a smart move, especially in a higher-cost area.

EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

Imagine making millions of dollars over the course of your career and then having to pay 30-50% every year to uncle sam instead of compounding that cash over time.This is exactly what real estate professionals have learned to mitigate.To reduce their taxable income, they just buy a building every year, do a cost seg, and use depreciation to reduce their tax liability dramatically.Their personal wealth snowball grows much larger and much faster than their W2 counterparts who give most of their money back to the government each year.Following this strategy as a real estate professional is one of best ways to end up with a much larger net worth at the end of your career.

Although I know most sec 8 landlords use it because of the perception of guaranteed rents.As a small home builder I really dont know how they are going to lower the cost of new construction housing unless the govmit subsidizes it somehow.. basically the price of home components are very sticky they only go up. with the xception of lumber that will go  up and down through out the year..

I would be cautious on the value add opportunities as the capex can be very expensive, but since you are developer you may might have an edge with figuring out these kinds of costs in your due dilligence.I've been working on building relationships with brokers. 

Definitely consult an NC RE Attorney!

Also factor in if the rents jumped a lot and if that would lead to a vacancy, which will cost you more in the short term. 

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Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about the local market here or want to connect! 

Option 2: Electrician recommended mini splits - said 2 units should do the trick and would cost around $6-$7k.Heating system 2 is forced hot air oil furnace specifically for the 3rd unit.