Of course accidents happen but the probably of being the victim of a crime isn't higher than if you go into a supermarket in the US and risk being the random victim of a mentally-ill mass shooter.

Ill take a look.  

@Bjorn Ahlblad thank you for the info, ill take that into account. 

I recently visited a property with my realtor and a developer, but was ill prepared to ask the right questions and didn’t properly document what needs to be done on the property.

And my all in cost will be a bit higher than the loan amount Ill likely need after.

I'm a disabled veteran with a chronic illness.

Ill be going a similar route as you did.

I am now hesitant to move forward, worried about contingency periods, worried I will lose my deposit, worried Ill purchase a duplex with an income lower than my expenses!

Ill be following the thread to see how others answer.

Hi Mary, most of the successful "regular" investors in the bay that I know are following the route of @Ivan Vasquez and @Benjamin LenzMulti-family in the Bay pre-covid was fraught with risks and the average person working 9-5 is ill prepared for that.With the ADU method, you can create multiple streams of income from a SFH without dealing with some of the strange laws that have been put into affect for multi-units.