My trip is essentially a vacation, but other than enjoying the unique touristy things each city has to offer, I really want to use the bulk of my time to explore markets and dip my toe in the water of investing, exploring different neighborhoods, looking at properties, talking to agents, investors, and whomever else can provide valuable insight on what I'd be venturing into when I'm eventually ready to buy.My intention with this post isn't really to turn this into a sort of journal with periodic updates, but mostly I was hoping that this post, and perhaps others in the future, could help me connect with some of you more experienced folks out there who may be willing to lend a helpful hand in anything at all real estate related. 

I never worn the landlord hat and have no experience with what this transition would be like.I am definitely okay with taking a hit on earnings to reduce stress for myself and minimize problems.

I'm looking to house hack -- live somewhere, reduce housing costs in year one, then turn that property into an investment property in year two or three. 

As I planned to come into huge equity gain from the sale of my house I already know the basic of getting back to zero with taking out all the debt and I have been able to reduce my spending immensely.

I will write the property under my name and, hopefully, later would refinance it to pull out some cash.We're in a good relationship, so there are no worries regarding stealing money from each other or anything along these lines.My main concerns are tax-related; is that a taxable event, how much, is there a way to avoid/reduce it?

Understand the seller's motivation, be willing to forgo/reduce your commission significantly or pay your own closing costs  in order to get the number that works for you.

And also because sellers who haven't owned the property for very long no longer have any equity in the homes with these falling prices and are deciding to simply stay put instead of selling thus reducing the supply of homes available which keeps demand at a tolerable level.Yes I realize that long term historical mortgage rates tend to hover in the 6-7% range, but historical data is only useful data if we live under the same overall economic conditions as when that data was current. 

Reduce the amount the single moms get with each additional baby they decide to have.

I really don't know.It's moving some of the cheaper properties off the market, which reduces inventory.

If your income (MAGI - Modified Gross Adjusted Income) exceeds $100K ($50k if single), the deduction is reduced.