.- My goal is to follow Scott Trench's ideas in Set for Life and hopefully rent a room for under $1200/month to save some extra cash and use it along with my current savings to buy and house hack a duplex/triplex/fourplex in 4-12 months in the Oakland/Emeryville area.- I consider myself very handy since I have renovated my entire house 99% by myself and pulled permits. 

@Charlie McClskie, The IRS does not like to see a taxpayer change anytime immediately prior to a sale.  

I would be happy to talk more with you about what your goals are and what you are more specifically looking for!

We discussed this in a prior post but I'm really interested to hear what you have to say if you check those areas out.  

What is your long term goal for this particular property?  

The prior response should give you a thorough view of the options that are available but knowing which one to use depends on your particular situation and how creative you can get.The reason for this is because everyone is in a different situation or tax bracket.

Business mogul Gary Vaynerchuck talks constantly about "eating dirt" for a period of time so that you can reach your goals in the future.

Purchase price  = $130,000HOA = $90Rehab cost = $15,000ARV= $195,000Rent= $1200The goal is to keep this as an investment property. 

If you are needing assistance in purchasing or selling properties I have many resources I use to help you reach your goals!

We are in the same boat with our highly inflated market in Portland but have achieved our rental and flipping goals by working in the Midwest.