<prompt> Human: I am currently looking into buying a home. I thought maybe Id be a renter forever but rent is out of control where I live and its starting to look like its silly not to buy. I always had it in the back of my mind that if I bought Id love to get a duplex or something similar and rent out the other half to pay 50 of the housing expenses and then, once everything was paid off, have that as a somewhat passive income stream. However, the LOOK of a payment on a place like that is huge and it scares me because, well, what if we didnt get a rent right away, etc. Ultimately, though, for what rent is going for here we could probably pay less monthly once we bought if we went with this scenario. We also might be able to get a place that has a 2 bed and a 3 bed and we could start in the 2 bed until our kids get a little older and want more privacy and then switch. Otherwise, the only things that look like in the ballpark of payments wed like to make are TINY. We are ok with small we live in 400 sqft. now, but who knows how things will be as kids grow upour family grows. I never liked the idea of buying a starter home and smaller houses have worse resale value if we went that route rather than renting ifwhen we move. Anyone been in a similar situation and have advice? FWIW, I AM really into the idea of buying and renting real estate as an income stream. ETA: also, is there a good way to decide what is do-able, financially, if I went the route of renting half? I know the 28 rule for a normal purchase.  <response>: buy something that you can afford without a tenant because theres no guarantee youll 100 always have a tenant. 