Here are some of the types of “wanna be” investors who never seem to be able to “pull the trigger:”The Organizer – This individual can’t seem to ever get fully organized - and until they do they can’t possibly make a purchase transaction.

To trigger this exception, you must meet three criteria:You must sell your entire interest in the underlying passive activityYou must trigger a tax event, meaning that you must sell your interest for value in a fully taxable transactionAnd you must sell your interest to an unrelated third party, no family or close affiliates.Source Link

Yep, hands on local like you are doing is the way to go IMO ... if you are willing and able, have the funds, and have the discipline to NOT pull the trigger on anything that isn't a great deal.

I respect her viewpoints and always take her into consideration, balancing the amount of chaos a move would cause.

It's up to the appraiser how much consideration to give to the Income Approach to value versus the Sales Comparison Approach commonly used for single family homes.

Another consideration is a 1031 exchange to a multi family unit.

You will save lots of money in fees and will save big time on the repairs which PMs mark up considerably from what they actually cost.

One of my considerations is to further improve the value by taking a renovation loan, however I'm concerned because of the neighborhood values that investing more money into the home won't net me much profit whether I sell or rent.I feel a little stuck here and I don't want to fall to my limited knowledge, so I'm here reaching out for some guidance.Thank you in advance for any advice or support. 

Oh, and if you're living in the duplex yourself there are additional considerations like 121 exclusion and home-office expenses and depreciation. 

Find one you are comfortable with and pull the trigger.