Renting vs Owner-occupied Duplex

[Lance Brown]

Hello,

I am new to purchasing real estate and am looking for some advice.  My partner and I currently rent an apartment for $1100 per month.  We save between 50-60% of our salary each year, and are working towards becoming financial independent through index investing in 10 years.  We are not looking to jump into real estate as a means of investment per se, but are looking for a way to offset some of our rent expense.  

We have looked into purchasing a duplex in the downtown area of Huntsville AL that we like, and plan to live in one side and rent out the other.  The listing is on the market for $270k, and one of the units is currently rented for $1200 per month.

I know this is not a really good deal in terms of strictly real estate investing, but would it make more sense to do this financially vs just continuing to rent?

Thanks for the help!  -Lance

[Casey Murray]

@Lance Brown Everyone on this response seems to be a fan of house hacking and rightfully so, it is powerful. I completely agree with @Joseph Rice and would emphasize knowing your market rents. Doesn't make any sense to renovate a unit if the market won't pay more in rent. Best of luck.