That's your best bet for stability, rent growth and appreciation.

If the appraisal comes in lower than the purchase price, a lender can decline to approve the borrower unless a change is made to the purchase price or the size of the downpayment.homeowners’ insurance is purchased (or substantiated, if the property being purchased includes homeowners’ insurance as part of association fees or similar arrangements), and proof of homeowners’ insurance is submitted to the lender.

You bet! 

I bet the $100k condo is in a rough D area, bad neighborhood with bad tenants.  

With that size property, you'll have staff to run it so you're not involved in the day by day.

The formula is typically based on the size of the unit and number of people living in it. 

It seems like it has the potential to be a decent house hack where I can live in one side and rent out the other side, but I am analyzing it as if I were renting out both units.Here's the overview:Seller accepted my offer of $90,000 (they were originally asking $95,000)Similar sized duplexes rent for around $1,500 total ($750 per unit)The total gross rent would be about 1.6% of the purchase price.I can get a conventional 30 year loan @ 4.5% interest, with a 5% down payment.Mortgage payments with PMI would be around $469 according to mortgagecalculator.org (not including taxes or insurance)Using the 50% rule of thumb to estimate expenses, I might be able to cash flow around $140 per unit.Here's what I found out when I went inside:There are 2 new forced air furnaces.Updated pex and PVC piping.Updated electrical wiring with separate panels.2 old corroded hot water tanks.

In truth I bet the cash flow is better outside the city, because I spend far less on turning a unit than those in town do, I suspect.

I charge for them, because so many of the deals don't pan out.I charge my time plus scope of work, usually works out to be about $275-$500 depending on size of property and how large it is. 

My listing agent gave me 1 comp for a property that was also fixer upper but was zoned R2 and was on a lot twice the size.