Unless you have a high income job and can stomach the negative cash flow each month...You can also look at house hacking something that may be a bit smaller (a semi with a basement apartment) or something like that so you can get in at a lower purchase price and still have your living expenses reduced.

There are two points in the investment process where you can reduce maintenance costs.

I have not and I imagine if you could be getting HVAC or windows for free or reduced costs BP users would be all over it.

I've thought about installing a turf lawn to reduce maintenance and increase curb appeal, but they are not cheap to install.  

So you are starting with a reduced equity position of $11k. 

My mom and aunt paid $15k for electrical work and had a home warranty been established, the cost would have been greatly reduced, if not eliminated.

This will reduce her monthly obligation and her overall responsibility.

It does cost more to establish checkbook control initially, but will reduce operating costs over the long term. 

Equity does not increase cash flow it reduces your ROI. $100K in dead equity has a opportunity value of 10%, mortgages are at 5% therefor to save $416 in interest you are losing out on $833 in income. 

To reduce the risk of being unable financially to support your family while moving into a different field, you could consider househacking or buy and hold.