However, under the "Disparate Impact" legal theory, fair housing issues arise when denying persons with a criminal record involving non-serious offenses and offenses that are remote in time. 

Lots of time to buy houses.  

We're selling a duplex we own and plan on buying a house that also operates as a business.

But right now, i currently own a SF in KY and am house hacking a duplex in round rock Texas.

This includes a 4.2% increase in rent costs and a 2.5% increase in homeowner's equivalent rent.New Residential Construction Data: Housing starts increased by 3.6% in May 2024, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.72 million units.

If you're looking to put even less, you'd have to get creative somehow - house hack, second position seller financing, etc.

My question has 2 parts. 1) is there a way to change the contractor without his release since he has done nothing to the house yet?

I moved from Connecticut to Columbus, Ohio in 2012 and started investing in 2017 with a house hack.

@Colleen Weaver - I would assume you are referring to a 5% down owner occupied loan, e.g. a house hack of sorts.

What if I am a part-time agent to qualify for the REP status via mainly RE agent activities (helping others in buying/selling houses) and then also have a couple of investment properties on the side that I manage myself to attain passive loss from those properties (via depreciation)?