Living in top unit and renting out the bottom.

@Isaac TerryIn terms of it being worthwhile, just like most other markets out of state if the barrier or entry is too high where you live, the landlord laws are not favorable where you live, and you are looking for positive cashflow then Cleveland can be a good option.

After 25 months, If they can prove that they lived in the property for two of the past five years, they can sell it as an owner-occupied residence.

I currently live Wisconsin and work in Real Estate.

Real estate is easy to get into, but hard to earn a living. 87% of all agents quit within two years because they don't make enough money.

I'm imagining something more like add a wall, turn a bedroom into a kitchen-living on one side and a formal dining room into a bedroom on the other side, maybe add a half bath in each unit.

4o Hi Monty, I Live 15 minutes from the freeport area with building and flipping experience.

Quote from @Eric Gerakos: My wife and I buy many “fractional” notes where we live in California.

The FHA rules/regs (in particular the FHA self-sufficiency test) are applied the same across all markets, and I know for a fact that in rural communities across the country, and big cities that are not particularly desirable places to live, it's not a deal-breaker, I am not commenting on those areas. 

I have a client that bought a condo to rent after living there and the HOA ended up outlawing rentals.