Rent or buy (active duty military edition)

[Ben Zucker]

My goal is financial independence, or more specifically to have enough monthly income to where I don't need to re-enlist 2 years down the line.

Currently, I rent. I'm very satisfied with my qualify of life here but it is rather expensive taking around 30-40% of my monthly income. I could just bide my time here and focus my attention elsewhere. 

I was considering purchasing a duplex or multi-family home, but I'm a first time RE investor and I'm worried about the debt, being saddled with repairs, dealing with tenants, and the worry of weak cash flow. I'm also worried about a declining quality of life due to hearing tenants wandering around or just in needing to deal with broken pipes, etc.

Another option is to find a single family home and hope it appreciates.... I don't feel like this is a great option if you're looking for financial independence, but I probably would get a good quality of life with this option and could do well if the housing market is appreciating. 

My credit score is decent but not great, and I have sufficient savings for a downpayment and no other debt but I plan on using the VA loan so that should mean no downpayment or property insurance. I was about to email a real estate agent about finding a multi-family home (I'm a little south of Baltimore, north of the DMV area) but I'd like to hear some feedback first about which option is best. Which option would you go for?