If you are willing to rent them a room in your house/condo you can help cover your rent.I would stress to only buy a place that would cash flow once you move out.

The damage should be minimal from the leak though, after a few months it would probably be a 1/2 sheet of plywood and 2hrs of labor at the most (unless it is a finished room underneath) 

I'm currently house hacking and have an ad up to fill a room.

In my mind Charlotte still has room to grow, but it is certainly near its 'peak' in my mind, However I still believe there are good RE opportunities for rentals out there.

There is a 20% down payment requirement, which can be cash prohibitive.My suggestion would be to either buy a single family with 3-4 bedrooms on a Conventional loan, put 5% down, and rent out the rooms to other people as you live there yourself OR buy a multifamily (duplex, triplex) on a 3.5% down FHA loan, live there, and rent out the other units. 

One of my rentals is on a lot that should provide enough room to build a second 1000-1500 sqft home.

The building has a communal laundry room downstairs.

I am about 50k over in a messy flip I bought from a skeezy (think boiler room sales tactic, no RE knowledge) BP wholesaler (without doing due diligence because they set it up so you have to buy on the spot).

I guess in the grand scheme of things any and every tenant has the potential to be trouble.

@Jared McCullough - 3,500 watts in living room and in a large back area.