As a house hacker, some considerations need to be made, namely WHO you are renting to.

House hackers also have to focus on their lifestyle, personal preference and commute.

I'm a newbie house hacker, but I'm learning fast.

Another reason why house hackers may stay away from HOAs is due to the fee which adds and additional expense to be mindful of when running your numbers.

@Izzy Smith- thanks and  congrats on getting the duplex started   1) fyi -you really  cant  force  appreciation  as  the  future value of the  property will likely be tied to the recent sales  of like king  duplexdes in your area .. improvements will help ...paying down the loan will help    2) Most house hackers that use  a FHA loan to  get the  1st property - will try to get the property refinanced into a conventional loan while they are still living in the property   3) by  doing this - you can 1) free up the FHA loan to use again on proerty #2  if desired  and  2) hopefully get  better terms / lower payment / lower mtg ins on the new loan     4)  In order  to get a  HELOC on the present  duplex you  will need to be living there and  you would need to  see the  equity position be  approx  20% or higher    5)  when you get  to the point of  starting to consider  buying - make sure you get pre approved  before you begin looking aggressively - good luck

I have helped a lot of house hackers and have analyzed hundreds of properties for house hackers. 

I help a lot of house hackers and this is a common question, usually centered around the absolute best ROI and going purely off numbers.My question back to you is where do YOU want to live?

Most New Jersey House Hackers are close to transportation hubs direct to NYC. 

If you haven't already checked out the meetup with @Gene Hacker I would recommend that as well.  

It's really a place where you can get it all as a house hacker, investor, and Richmond is a nice place to raise a family too.