Yes, you can pay extra to reduce the length of your mtg and pay less interest over all, but realize.....your Yield on the extra money you pay in is Exactly whatever the interest rate is on the loan. 

@Thomas Van aken Renting the other bedrooms and sharing the common areas of the house I live in is not my idea of house hacking.

:) Of course the economy could crash, but that would likely hit the same regardless of the neighborhood you buy in. I

I plan on keeping one side and not renewing the other so I can move in. I

What you learn by "just jumping in", is what not to do...as you make mistakes. 

Purchase price: $223,000 Cash invested: $8,000 Purchased for 223k but only put 8k of my own money in, I had a private investor cover the rest of the down payment and I make monthly interest payments to them as long as the money is in use.

If the area the home is in is one you have targeted then it is worth going down the path to structure an offer that works for you.

Step 1 – In a new notebook while driving/working my goal was to have jotted down 25 homes listed for sale or rent that I would live-in. I

When I was in I used my VA loan to buy a 75k house in Abilene TX.

@Mike Roy - You're too kind to label me an "expert" though I've certainly put my study time in. I