I think you will have a hard time at 18 buying multi family out of the gate with little credit, income or down payment but it CAN be done if you're persistent and ask around a lot.

So once we played it as “it’ll be a lot easier if we buy a house we can house hack, live there a year, simultaneously scope out other areas of town we would prefer to live, stack cash, then move into our long term house and keep the other as a rental and continue to subsidize our mortgage payment that way.”Was a no brainer once we looked at it from a logistical standpoint rather than wanting to be in the cute HGTV home right out of the gate.

We bought in 2016, PITI - $2350/month on a 30 year loan + HOA $110/month (gate and lawn care).

Worked with my trusted team realtor John Gates, Lender (dad) John, home inspector William Signori

With a rehab of $1500 out of the gate.

I want them to have as little info as possible about the property I buy so the city appraisers can't use it to raise the property value right out of the gate. 

Overall cash flow out of the gate or the potential for longer-term appreciation?

However, the house is cashflowing, and the cashflow would be enough to pay for typical maintenance, plus a pricey earthquake policy (for now, let's put aside the fact that it's very difficult or impossible to buy a house in SLC that cashflows right out of the gate). 

With gates on both side to give direct access to to the open field/park behind the duplex.

The backyard is completely fenced in and the gate has a latch that locks it into place.