Single Family vs Duplex (house hack)

[Coles Mercier]

Good Morning Bigger Pockets Family, I'm a relatively new member to BiggerPockets; I've been hanging around the site reading posts and listening to blogs. Because of Bigger Pockets, I became a real estate agent (licensed in MD) to gain experience on property acquisition and knowledge of market trends. After listening and reading for about a year, it's time for me to acquire my first property, however, I'm faced with a dilemma and I'm hoping and turning to you for advice on how to proceed. Property #1: It's a single family ( 3 bed, 1.5 bath, 1024 sq ft) unit that is on the market for 152 days. Original list price was $105k, but I've been able to negotiate it down to $70-75k. As a positive, this unit already has a tenant and he's paying $1200/month and would love to stay and want a long term lease. Lastly, to obtain this property I plan to put 20% down and finance the rest. Property #2: It's a multi unit with 2 (2 bed, 1 bath, units upstairs and downstairs) at 1496 sq ft that just listed. The list price is $110k and I doubt there is any room to negotiate at this point. There is a tenant on the bottom unit that is paying $750/month and would also love to stay long term. This property requires some work to spruce it up, therefore I was thinking of going FHA 203k route. I would "house hack" for about a yr, then move out to collect rent on the top unit. After I move out, my thought is the top unit can bring in $900-$1000 per month because of the updates.....probably more if I go section 8. Any Recommendation: Any advice on which you believe is a better deal. Both properties are in the city, therefore the taxes are comparable, however I'm not so sure about the insurance though. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide. Coles Mercier

[Coles Mercier]

I want to thank everyone for their advice and recommendations for helping me figure out if i should  go single family or house hack.  All the advise i received were good and definitely made this decision hard, but ultimately, i decided to go with the single family property over the multi family property. 

I am now under contract for the single family, and conducted the home inspection yesterday (which turned out identifying nothing major).  Right now, I'm debating whether to conduct a lead inspection before closing or after (i need to educate myself on this step for properties in Baltimore city with tenants).

Because there is a tenant already on the property, i don't plan to make any improvements until sometime down the road.  and i will keep what @Brandon Brown suggested and not over improve the property.

Anyways, i'm excited this is my first investment property, and i'm scheduled to settle on November 1.

P.S

I'm already looking for my next property....my goal is to have it by March 2018.