First Duplex Financed with FHA... STR in other unit

[Alec Sherman-Brown]

Hello,

I'm 23 years old, buying my first investment property (a duplex in Ferndale, MI) as an owner-occupant to take advantage of FHA financing. My strategy is a house-hack, but the other unit will be a short-term rental to maximize monthly revenue. I have a couple questions for more experienced investors.

1. With my property being financed with FHA, my name must be on the title and thus it cannot be in an LLC. Obviously, this is not preferable. My long-term strategy will be to have each property in their own LLC to minimize my personal risk. With that in mind, I wanted to clarify on taking advantage of the STR Loophole:

a. Despite the property not being officially within an LLC, can I still claim its expenses, depreciation, etc. to offset my own taxable income from my W-2?

2. For the lender, I needed basic residential homeowner's insurance... More experienced investors, what type of insurance do you recommend on a property like this when operating an STR out of it?

3. Any and all other advice you have would be great.

Thanks a lot,

Alec Sherman-Brown