What improvements have they done to the property?

Lien searches, etc.

Do you have any recommendations of how my plan can be improved?

Different areas of the country charge different amounts so do a craigslist or google search on what that charge would be.......THEN let the tenant know beforehand....it will cost $XX.XX Dollars and you will get it done within 7 days. 

I started the search for a duplex in Durham NC in early 2018 in an effort to buy and house-hack.

Expecting "instant equity" requires you to either buy below market rate, or you will have to force appreciation by making substantial capital improvements as soon as you buy. 

You should go to a local REI meeting and search out who the bigger wholesalers are and pick their brains

Excited to keep going, I'm making notes for improvements and ways to get better.Thanks for all the comments in the thread.

This will get you to rub shoulders with like-minded people and start your search.

@Cole Hagen my feedback would be: 1) don't commit income tax fraud by purposefully under-reporting your income, I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the IRS rule is that other/misc. income in excess of $600 must be reported, and 2) if you ignore 1) and do chose to not report it, it's probably not a great idea to post about the fact that you're considering doing so on a site where you have your full name posted, how easy would it be for a Google search to turn that info up or for someone to report you to the IRS based on this post?