Unfortunately I can't do that right now with my lack of down payment and also credit that was damaged in my relationship as well.

Given my job limitations and since I'm planning to house hack I unfortunately can only go as far as a NY Suburb near NYC.

The bank that gave me this loan will not do multi-family construction loans so unfortunately I need to find someone else. 

Unfortunately, the lease you originally signed was your promise to pay and you broke that promise.

That would leave us with around $70k liquid cash.We rent an apartment month-to-month until we find a good duplex to purchase (ideally within 1 year).We house-hack the duplex until we accumulate enough cash to buy a SFH for ourselves (3-5 years).We retain ownership of the duplex and rent out both units.In my mind, this approach could "get the ball rolling", considering we can't afford to buy an investment property with our current circumstances, nor would we be able to for many years.What would you do if you were in the same boat?

Unfortunately, he associated with a woman who was addicted to heroin and treated the house like a dump.

Unfortunately I don't think you're going to like the answer. 

I close on Tuesday so unfortunately have nothing to report back as far as work that has actually been completed.

Your post, on the hand, is more like, "Hi, here are my circumstances, here are some options I'm considering, what do you think?"

If so, under what circumstances?