The idea of getting a duplex seems great, but I am having trouble finding anything on and off market.

Luckily I am not easily sold on any ideas without some data to back the ideas.

I agree with the others here that say you need to have some skin in the game, if you are going to live there yourself, get an FHA loan rather than owner financing, you can get a 3.5% down loan, personally I do not love these as they require  PMI which is an additional expense, and you also need  bring additional funds for closing at least for taxes, title, attorney and transfer fees . borrowing from anyone else for the down payment, to include a personal loan from the bank is not a good idea, those again will be higher int. rate.

To give you an idea of how we approach it, we assume the worst-case scenario right from the start is 9-12 months of no rent, $5,000 in legal fees, and an additional $5,000 in expenses to deal with moving their stuff, putting it in storage, and dealing with health code violations or NOV's from the city during the process. 

Because you're new, it is a good idea to ask about the brokerage's agent training offerings and potential teams to join to get experience. 

I think the idea of starting fresh financially, as soon as possible, would eliminate a lot of stress.

The camera idea is a good one.

Its also a good idea to keep any receipts (I use a google drive folder, they have a scan function that makes uploading receipts a breeze)

One good idea is to connect with the social worker department at the hospital to see if you can assist with anyone traveling to the area. 

So the whole idea that $109mnth is some "big incentive" to do nothing is just FAKE-NEWS.