Can live in half, rent the other half.  

I pretty much still lived how I lived in undergrad and grad school (very frugally), and was able to pay it off in half a year.If you can refinance at a lower rate, say 2-4%, that's a good option too so you can leverage your cash in real estate investments that make 10% or more.

I'm pretty inexpensive (about half compared to typical small firms) because I also work full time as an attorney, and merely practice on the side to assist with my real estate deals and pay down law school debt (which is mortgage-sized), but I'm also very good (graduated with honors, guest lecturer, published papers, etc). 

Duplex is a great idea, live in half, rent half, save money, leverage that duplex for the next property, etc.  

In your case perhaps buying a multi family home living in half and renting out the other half wouldn't be to bad of an idea but I highly doubt you would need to live in a property for 3 years in order to rent it out .

Our force appreciation play will blow out of state cash-flow out of the water by a mile. 100% ROI within 2-3 years is quite easy to achieve with minimal efforts.

Hi Chuck,Thanks for trying to clarify, but I really am asking about Rochester, Pennsylvania, which is located 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

The properties that sell in that area are going to people who basically overspend massively relative to the market (I know first hand of a couple of properties that have had 5M put into them but will never sell for more than half of that right now), particularly if they are looking at a property like this one which would require a great deal of money to restore to it's historical grandeur (what people are doing there).

I probably auction about half of the properties I sell.

Hi everyone,So I've been a Realtor for the past year and a half with fluctuating income.