My aunt would live in the mother in law side and rent out the main portion.

Obviously, I understand the interest rate is higher for that portion of the loan.

I suppose a larger portion of my problem with smoking weed inside the house attributes to what some of @Damaso Bautista mentioned relating to it being a house-hack. 

I decided going forward to allocate a portion of my budget strictly for capex repairs that would typically be covered by a warranty co.Hope this shines some light for you.

You also have to pay taxes on the principal portion of you mortgage payment, since that is basically moving money from cash to equity in real estate, so still income.So, for a simple example, in a year, your gross income is $10,000, your expenses were $7,000, of which $1,000 went toward the loan principal, then your taxable income is 10k-7k+1k= $4,000.

I have had luck negotiating sellers to pay a portion of or all of cash for keys cost for my buyers. 

So I would have $2,400 in actual cash flow (my portion) but the income statement will show a loss. 

Do you recommend a larger investment in a multi-family, so that the travel costs make up a smaller portion of the total costs?

You want to confirm with the owner that they are in good standing with their portion of the rent.

The property itself is the smallest portion of the deal and they use their skills to "manage the managers".