Something that you really have to take into consideration is that most buildings here are a century old or even older.

If the room is too small for even a queen, we recommend a bunk...with no ceiling fan above it...or a twin.

All real estate is an investment, even the ones you live in without roommates.

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 am now open to other ways of financing , like fha or conventional and was looking into down payment assistance programs as that’s the only hurdle this time around . 

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.

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

Is it important to visit the property even with Covid, etc.?

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.