The honest savings target is four buckets, not the 20% myth: down payment, closing costs, reserves, and a repair float. Dollar tables at three price points, and how assistance shrinks the wall.
I bought my duplex with FHA. The honest head-to-head with conventional: down payment, mortgage insurance, loan limits, rental income rules, and the 3-4 unit test.
The ROAD Act made building a backyard unit its own kind of FHA loan and let USDA count ADU rent. Here is what you can use today and what is still empty.
The ROAD Act deleted the permanent chassis rule from the federal definition of a manufactured home. What changes for factory-built homes, and the 2027 deadline.
Only about a quarter of homes selling for $70,000 or less are bought with a mortgage. The ROAD Act authorizes an FHA pilot aimed squarely at that gap.
The new federal ban on large investors buying single family homes defines a single family home as any structure with two or fewer units. Duplexes are inside the ban.
The boiler and the remodel came in fine. What surprised me was a $500/month escrow I barely modeled and an Airbnb basement that cost more stress than money.
My first duplex analysis was a $120,000 Saint Paul listing. The spreadsheet said yes, the walkthrough said no, and the number I obsessed over was the wrong one.
The real routine, the real monthly budget, and the honest answer to whether living in a van while working full time actually saved money. It mostly did not.
Three duplex price tiers from my 2026 data run: the monthly cost of owning each after tenant rent, the cash you need at closing, and why the top tier loses.
