Mende,A foundation leak is not normally a covered loss on the Homeowners policy.

@Timothy Brennan Looking to do minimal work such as repainting, appliances etc.

The biggets advantage of having a company is the ability to shield losses if that were to arise from unrelated issues such as injury.  

So it would be split ownership, but we would be the primary residents.Our taxable income is actually low because my husband's business has been operating at a loss.

If you don’t disclose and the buyer or seller finds out later and decides that you “took advantage of them” because you offered below market value they can file a complaint which could lead to a fine and loss of your license.

I'm guessing that your losses there would have paid for your education, possibly twice or more.Part of what you will learn from that education is to use the resources you have to achieve gains without taking on the entire risk of a property deal.

California will allow you to utilize losses from rental activities so long as your income is below a certain income amount.

If you are worried about the $600 think of it this way: another empty month at 3,100 means it will take 5 more months to recoup that loss once you do realize you need to drop the rent and get it filled. 

I'd also think that you can probably find some 80s or 90s housing stock that will have minimal maintenance issues and still give you better returns.

You would likely sell it at a discount thereby guaranteeing a loss of capital up front, I would think.With all that said, if your duplex cash flows you should be able to borrow $70k to $85k fairly easily.