We would like to grow our portfolio as time, finance, and opportunity allow.Lastly, our oldest is headed to UConn for her PhD (6 years) and instead of paying to rent, our thoughts are to do a version of a house hack with buying a house/condo with her living there and then renting out one to two rooms to offset the costs of her rent.

Is this a pro in house-hacking because there will be more people renting?

All of BP and other investors are looking for a nice 3/2 they can do a quick fix up and either flip or rent out. 

Originally I wanted to operate a personal care home, however would much rather rent the home to an operator with hopes to negotiate higher rent.

@Lucas Schlund there are logically, 3 options:1) Buy Cash: PROS: You can get better prices on houses because you can close faster with motivated sellers and buy houses that need repairs to qualify for a mortgage (less buyer competition)CONS: takes the longest to save the funds2) Use Rehab Loan:PROS: Same as #1CONS: more expensive loans:---FHA 203(k): not that expensive, but must live in the property for 12 months before renting---DSR Rehab loan: relatively expensive and may need experience to qualify3) Mortgage on Property with Cosmetic Repairs:PROS: easiest & cheapest to doCONS: lots of competition, so can be hard to find a "deal"PM us if you'd like to discuss these in more detail.

I am in the midst of rehabbing my first deal (a rented triplex with long term tenants that was owned by a major slumlord). 

You can potential lower housing costs or even stay about the same as renting, while you build wealth through appreciation and loan paydown.

The problem was either the tenant or deferred maintenance.In many cases, the existing rent has not kept pace with market rents.

or will your rent it out or sell it in the future. 

In my area, there seems to be a ceiling on what people will pay for rent and if they have enough income to rent a $500,000 home, they will just buy one instead.