My only other option to not pay mortgage insurance forever seemed to be a conventional loan with a much higher down payment and only pay until I reached 20% equity.I was determined to find something better.

@Sean McElligott  As long as the numbers still work with all those things factored in, absolutely!

Rents can be raised to $5800 monthly to get to market rents, an increase of $500 monthly or $6000 annual, so that's something to factor. 

The second home would be for a live-in forever place.

That's actually where ROI comes from.https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/perpetuity.aspThat assumes Andrey is going to live forever or hold this property forever.  

I think it's important to have a business plan. i havent started my investing yet so take my opinion with a grain of salt but the more I think about it the more complicated it seems. really what im trying to do is just buy multi family properties at some kind of discount. add value by renovations or by purchasing in a down market. then fix it up to my companies standards and get them rented out one unit at a time. some of the things ive been thinking about include financing. how will i finance deals after the first 4 or so when the banks stop lending traditionally. also how much do I need in resurves to cover everything from fees to extra holding costs to a major cap expenditure. i want my business to have a plan so i will succeed no matter what. so i think its important to think about those types of concerns regardless of what type of investing you're doing and factor those in to your plan. im excited to save money for the first deal im only at 3k so far.

Either option depends on mostly one factor.....does it make sense to buy the lot and pay the costs of new construction, compared to what the market price for the duplex in good shape is.  

The Clothiers' willingness to take big risks, tireless work ethic and straight bullheaded drive have led us to outmaneuver, outwork and outgrow everyone by a huge factor.  

On my next deal i'm looking for more than $200 per month factoring in PM and vacancy expenses. 

With investing the odds are much less clear, and are subject to change by factors out of your control.All that said, life is a gamble.