I still believe sellers will need to pay the buy side commission if they want to sell in a reasonable time frame and for top dollar.

Only in the PPP time frame will someone be penalized by the lender in the amount of the % that is concurrent with the PPP structure.

Any recommendations for a free or inexpensive app for tracking expenses and mileage?

I'm going to college in Long Island this year and want to get into house hacking, but the house prices in Long Island seem to be really expensive, is it still doable? I'm looking for a duplex for around 200k-300k

this is a toughie. hard money specifically is equity-driven, meaning they'll likely want 40%+ down to even entertain the deal. additionally, land without improvements is often very inexpensive (relative to land with improvements), usually pushing below a threshold which makes sense for a hard money lender. if you're not intending to build right away, then i think you'll have the best luck with private money instead of hard money. usually higher leverages than hard money, and more negotiable terms.if you are intending to build on it pretty right away, a ground-up construction loan could work, but those will typically require some ground-up construction experience (on title on other ground-up deals), or an extensive portfolio of heavy rehabs/ rentals/ strong liquidity. those will give you acquisition monies (to buy the land) and build monies (to build the improvements).

Timeframe?

To me the quadplex would be dual purpose, while you are not living there it serves as a reliable stream of income, once you move there, you could live in 1 of the units while you build your permanent home, and you could also use it for when your family comes over for large gatherings.A 2nd option might be to build an RV park, Unless their are zoning restrictions, you should be able to build one fairly inexpensive, with a septic system and either public water or a well, you can keep your costs to a minimum by doing gravel roads, which are easier to remove later if you don't want them. 

Quote from @Najeh Davenport: At max 10k, I think my biggest issue is the maintenance upkeep Maintenance is relatively inexpensive.

I also have a 1M PLUP, really inexpensive. 

Lets shoot for $90k down, $150k gross per year, adjust for your COC calcs, once you throw in expenses, Debt/Interest.