So... We're House Hacking a Duplex

[Ellen Womack]

My husband and I are ambitious, new investors. We bought a duplex, made a classic rookie-noob mistake and skipped the home inspection in order to close quickly. We also, didn't take into account how bad the neighborhood is and we really don't like living here. 

We want to keep the property, but we don't know how. We're BROKE! Decent credit scores, but broke! The tenant is horrible- I mean like starting-a-carwash- in -our-driveway horrible. We really don't want to sell. The area is a hot market, but we don't know what to do. 

How can we:

1. Keep the duplex (and get a tenant that will actually respect our property) 

2. Afford to fix it up

3. Afford  to get our own house 

[Taylor L.]

You mentioned that you skipped the inspection but didn't dig into what needs to be fixed. How bad is it?

Did you screen the tenant? If so, how? If your goal is to keep the duplex and move out you'll need to have solid procedures and criteria in place.