Preferably stay for one year and find another house.

I think house hacking with a VA is still well worth it. 

Good Morning,So I have always dreamed of getting a duplex as my first house and to house hack to get my foot in the door in real estate investing.

I would need to know more specs on the house but with material shortages It's difficult to say how much to budget. 80K-120K for full gut perhaps but unsure with lumber beings so expensive and shortages.I would plan 9 months of vacancy between the pain you will endure pulling permits & having your contractors show up everyday to complete the work & then final inspections to get a CO. 

The system is what's really broken:1) S8 should have a time limit - get free housing to get your life in order and move on.2) S8 should have strong requirements for taking care of the home taxpayers are paying the rent for. --- We haven't seen a S8 inspection report in over a decade that required a tenant to fix damages they obviously caused.

Stay away, I made the mistake of buying one house through them in Palm Bay which has had continual problems.

House have good layout, good area, great schools, price point was fair for that area.

I am not an expert in either lead or FHA, but here are a couple thoughts for you to look more into.By lead in the unit do you mean paint?

Purchase price: $232,000 Cash invested: $200,000 Sale price: $575,000 I purchased this single-family property and undertook extensive renovations, including excavating a new foundation and reframing the entire two-story house.

@Tim Holt, Yes INDEED house hacking is the best option for most 1st time buyers.