Overall, the tax benefits and appreciation alone keep me interested in staying with it more than the cash flow itself. 

When you live in that duplex for 2 years and then sell you'll be able to take 50% of the profit tax free (the allocation for the side you lived in). 

Honest... not great but we had other tax reasons to get into them.   

Knows real estate tax write-offs and how I can best apply them!

I understand that I need to account for taxes, insurance, and other costs—Should I go with a LML and then do a refi later on?  

I looked into this as well since I'm getting terribly bent over on my w-2 taxes. 

I have a confession: my only duplex, which I gave owned now for 2 years and recently moved out of from a house hack, has proven to cost me more to maintain/pay taxes/repair/fix etc to the point where my cash flow is close to zero.

I bought it last year and thus far have: 1) Appealed assessed value to bring down taxes, 2) Got better (less expensive) insurance, 2) Rehabbed 3/4 units, and 3) increased rents $300-$400 per unit along the way.

I've been buried with tax preparation and a couple projects, so BP moved from the back burner to completely off the stove!

We have sold (tax free), kept as long term and/or short term rentals as well.