However, with the rates and conditions of any triplexes and fourplexes we could find (we did find one, but it's in the Pendleton Heights suburb of KCMO, so we were worried about it being too dangerous of an area), we were wondering if it's worth it to buy a duplex and rent out the other half to help pay the mortgage, or if it's more worthwhile to rent an apartment and try to save up to buy a residential or commercial MFH later?

It seems more your fault for choosing the "lying" contractors from the tenants point of view, if you ask them to pay up, I'm sure they would.

So I did not pay extra for it, but chose it anyway over other places.

There are people who have an entire business helping you set up and design a STR relatively quickly (3-7 days) depending on size of home and complexity but you are going to be paying a bit of a premium but you do save on the headache.

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Then they have to sign a W-9 before we'll pay them.So, we've never had to deal with illegals, etc.

Although the tenant initiated the payment on 12/31/2024, the funds didn’t reach your account until 1/6/2025, making it 2025 income.

That's disappointing, I'm here to learn and would happily pay for it if I used it extensively.

We pay 8% & less than you've shown on other fees for great service.   

Section 8 pays $1,590 for a 3BR unit.