I am curious to learn a bit more about these unique things. 

@Ram Su the issue with AM Fam and SF is they each have their own unique policies that are not standard to the rest of the marektplace. 

Even if we have to keep the existing floor plan I think we could still charge $1400-1600 in rent for the area based on comps, which would still make this a profitable deal.Here is the unique aspect to this deal that I could use some help with.

What is unique about this situation, at least for me, is that the duplex is owner occupied which qualifies the current owner for the exemption.

@Pat McCandless We have a solid infrastructure in place to deal with the tenants and the unique kinds of maintenance issues that come up with a multi family house as opposed to a single family so we do not find them any more difficult than a single family. 

My personal belief is that "It is not the software that defines the process, but the process that should define the software" In other words, each and every one of us have a unique business, with unique processes that can utilize software to reduce workload, provide a better customer experience and automate tasks.

While I am new and probably not the best person to offer proper real estate investing advice at this point, I can tell you that one of the common themes I hear from talking to many successful investors echoes what @Jay Helms said above.

Where they end up with their unique situation isn't.

What’s unique is that the basement only has an exterior entrance so if I added rooms to the basement, they would essentially need to walk outside to have access to kitchen/bath/laundry.

We built a nice home we plan on staying forever and it was a unique opportunity to have someone pay over half our mortgage.