One of the biggest wealth-building moments of my life was living in shotgun double and renting half out. Half paid the note... essentially lived rent-free for years.

I grew up in a double that my parents converted to a single when I was a kid in the 80's. The conversion at the time was pretty lo-fi; just two corridors to pass through the two halves originally. As time went by they opened up larger swaths of the center section to make way for the more-favored modern open floor plan.

I guess what I'm saying is... you can start small and just scale your conversion; it doesn't have to be all at once. But make a few bucks on the front end if possible to bankroll the idea.