Not to say its impossible, just difficult and usually you have to source deals like that yourself. 

I am seeking insights and recommendations from the community regarding potential locations in and around Orlando where full duplexes might be more readily available within my budget.My plan is to house hack, and based on my initial calculations, I anticipate an extra expense of $1.5K beyond rental income to cover the mortgage.

If I didn't push back and did my own research I would of been stuck with a %4.1 interest rate paying extra on my mortgage because of someones malfeasance, this is a big deal. 

I have learned if I buy an item at Home Depot, when I go home and check Amazon, it is usually half priced!

I personally don't like pay too much attention to ProForma as I can't predict the future so I usually just like to know if cash flow is good AND more importantly if I'm financing, if the DSCR (debt service coverage ratio) is high enough to safely qualify for financing (usually above 1.2). 

I've had occasion when a buyer wanted to use their attorney to close and we had to jump through some extra hoops we hadn't had to before.

Make sure it is something your tenants want and will pay extra for. 

Usually mold is caused by moisture getting trapped and not being ventilated out of a space. 

I bet dollars to donuts your tenant is paying you $2,000 and then he's charging his roommates extra and making money off your property.My policy?

The surprises of a partnership are usually not, "this was easier than I thought it was going to be."