This approach allows you to manage the property closely, benefit from homeowner loan terms, and potentially increase its value with improvements before renting it out.As you transition the townhouse to a rental, ensure the rent covers all expenses and provides a profit.

I want to provide access through the common wall of the two units of a duplex. nothing fancy, sort of a "doorway" without a door, same size of a door.

Either way buying it and having on site will save you time and labor costs provided it fits the space and works with the existing drain. 

And in doing so I realized that it’s going to be $2k more per year to insure it for replacement value of $145k vs before it was mostly just liability insurance plus a cap of $15k replacement payout. 

I just closed this week, $13k worth of repair work I'm told has already been started and should take 3 weeks to finish (a list of necessary repairs was provided).

I highly recommend you start the process.

Most were in risky neighborhoods, but did offer security provided by the corner drug dealers.

Impossible to tell which would benefit you most.I have found that lenders value the house in different ways; one is a full appraisal and the other is an automatic valuation…my credit union did a “drive by” valuation.  

It will enable you to continue living for free while your residents pay off your mortgage for you.There are several turnkey companies in the middle/southern part of the country where you can buy high quality single families for under 275k in landlord friendly states.

These are expenses incurred before your business is active, and they typically aren’t immediately deductible in full, as they are considered part of starting the business rather than ongoing operational costs.To provide more detail, according to IRS rules (as seen in the screenshot), you can deduct the lesser of $5,000 or your total startup expenditures.