You can easily create a "sidewalk" for a low cost.

They can easily answer questions like this and advise you in advance of taking any action.

I already have property managers, bankers, lawyers, laborers and mentors in place, and being a broker I can search for and purchase my own properties easily enough.

This does not easily fit into the system.   

If they are professional, they can explain this quickly and easily.

Minor damage like chips and dings are easily fixed with a little putty and touch-up paint.I'd say pick a neutral color that looks good in the space and keep some extra paint on the side for whenever you turn the property over.

So, you can make money and learn invaluable lessons with a HH, but it's typically a much lower risk strategy than BRRR'ing, flipping or wholesaling--which are strategies that (when executed poorly) can easily bankrupt a beginner.Moreover, house hacking can be very lucrative, and there are multi-millionaires who built their fortunes on repetitive house hacking.Now, having said all that, house hacking isn't necessarily easy (if it were, everyone would do it)...it's just easier than the more advanced strategies...House hacking still takes significant due diligence, skill in analyzing the market and the property, time and effort to learn about tenant screening and property management, the ability to anticipate appreciation/depreciation trends, etc., etc., etc....and even with lots of skill and preparation, things will still go wrong (vacancy, plumbing leaks, bad tenants, etc.)

Now, better deals do come along, of course, but don't think you will just end up at $3,000/month quickly or easily. 

If they are professional, they can explain this quickly and easily.

My game plan is to rehab it as a single family (so that it will pass the inspection) but to have it setup so that it can easily be made into a duplex when ready (put up a wall and add an additional kitchen back to back with the current kitchen).