House hacking is a great way to start if your family situation will allow it, paying 3.5-5% down instead of 25% can be a huge advantage.

My landlord believes it since she's the owner she doesn't need to announce that she's coming over feels she can do anything she wants and she deliberately rents to people who are in situations where it's difficult for them to find places to live.

Overall, I'd do it again, in the exact situations already mentioned above by other posters.

While I may be more likely to do 30 and have the flexibility, your situation might be more geared towards the 15.

However your situation becomes a trickier case study since these properties first served as your primary residence which could provide additional benefits form a tax perspective not available to an owner of investment real estate and nobody has a crystal ball and knows the property with certainty will transition into an investment property. 

There are financing options for self-employed borrowers in these sorts of situations, but they require a higher down payment than FHA.

**Faster Turnaround**: Brokers can usually provide a BOV/BPO more quickly than the time it takes to get a full appraisal, which can be useful in time-sensitive situations[1][2][3].3.

This works in certain situations as does a 1031.  

In this situation I would have personally provided these tenants with a rent deduction.

I am a new to all this and my situation makes things a little more difficult so any recommendations or advice would be great!