More so the lender I used had a $995 payment due to even get the loan going.

However, the place I am looking for to stay with my family is north Austin suburb and none of the duplex has a cashflow even if I put 20% down.

I don’t think even appreciation in real estate is worth it unless it is forced.  

Typically, I look for at least 50% in equity from the start in order for me to even consider it. 

WIth your experience, you could even target 3-4 unit properties at that time.Regarding "legally living in", you would have to change your address and actually live their as your primary address, but you could temp stay where you live now when you have your kids.

If the equity is sufficient for the down payment and qualifying for the new property there are some excellent HELOC or even fixed rate second mortgage programs available.

I'm looking at a long term appreciation, and in the interim serve as a second home / STR or even LTR.

I am not at all sure that a first floor formerly retail space like we have so much of in OTR can be converted to residential use without full code compliance even when the building is zoned for mixed use.

I will add we took out a loan to buy the home for 20k along with extra cash to put into our home to make a "home office" out of the attached garage we never used except for storage so we added even more value to our 156k purchase.

:) The rehab numbers are the hardest part even for people who have been doing this for a while.