This way, your current rental stays a cash-flowing asset while providing leverage to grow your portfolio.

If this isn't required, then most likely having the GC sign a completion guarantee to ensure the project gets finished and lender is not stuck with a partially complete asset is the case. 

House hacking is financially a no-brainer and no city in the US (including Chicago) has more duplexes than Milwaukee.

Build up your portfolio with a professional landlord and then as your portfolio grows transfer the assets over to a larger PM firm for ongoing accounting and management. 

Can you share some financial numbers related to your house hack?

The financial analysis side of CRE really excites me.

You will also need about 6 months of reserves deposited in a traditional financial institution rather than a crypto account.The next step is to find the target property and calculate the acquisition costs and costs of construction along with the after-repair value. 

@Christopher HeidrichRecommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Financial freedom is all about buying and hold properties for the rest of your life - that's how you get appreciation, cash flow, principal paydown, and depreciation.

FHA gets a bad rap because sellers and many agents think it's only for people who don't have the money so if I had 20 percent, but wanted to use FHA, I would present a proof of funds with my offer showing I have more money, but am using the FHA as a financial option so I can get an investment property as well somewhere else.