However in your case, since you would be forced to live in the property for a year it makes sense for you to take on more of the rehabbing (if you have the skill set to do it).Biggest issue I have with doing work myself is that it doesn’t allow for scalability.

The project budget includes the soft costs of things like surveys, plan check and permit fees, and professional fees for the architect and engineers, and is usually in the 12-18% range.

I don't know what your specific skill set is, but I'm a bit of a geek, so I download the bulk data file from the county.  

I wouldn't DIY anything on HVAC unless you have acquired the skills to do so.

You have to acquire the skill.

Chicago cannot continue to create and keep jobs if their skilled workers don't want to live and raise a family in the City. 

Partnering with the City using my VA Loan and HUD funds, they will reimburse up to 50% of construction cost (hard and soft).

However, +5 units do come with more things that I need to learn about before just jumping in.What I'm running across are for-sale owned by investors that have several duplexes.To hone my skills, I am doing analysis from what I learned about deal analysis, thanks BP community, to see what I come up with.

At the moment I don't have any technical skills but I am looking to get better.  

But the market is still pretty soft in the area, and I need around $165,000 in order to break even (5% commissions, closing and lawyer fees, plus paying off the 1st mortgage).I've tried and failed to refinance the property on multiple occasions, even through the HARP 2 program, but everyone keeps coming back with, "you don't have a 75/25 LTV ratio, so we won't touch it".