(I will never do another house this old, by the way).

Unless the property is really old, I wouldn't budget for a repipe or new electrical wiring.

I’m 24 years old and when I started was consistently encouraged to buy a home as quickly as possible for specific reasons.

Other issues like how old is the furnace?

If you have to house hack a single family house or even a condo that's not the end of the world, just look for something that you can fix up and force appreciation.     

I just recently in the last month purchased my first duplex here in Alexandria MN.  Still in the process of fixing up the main floor unit from the abuse it took from previous renters.  I am looking for advice and know...

All this vigorous energy oozing out of my essence and there I was; splattering it around everything like a three year old kid frolicking around in a muddy rain puddle!

Self-management is possible but to make it a lot smoother make sure everything is as perfect as it can be so you're not having to deal with replacing a toilet or old wiring when a tenant moves in. 

This house has been on the market for 41 days, which in today's world seems like a long time to me. 

I‘m redoing the upstairs unit in an old farm house that was converted into a duplex.