Should I purchase my first real estate property as owner occupied

[Erica Ho]

Hi all,

I am hoping to start my real estate investment journey and can't decide between either co-buying my first real estate property in LA vs buying an out of state investment property. 

For the first option I would co-buy with my sister who would then occupy the house and help find and manage renters. Co-buying would make it easier for me to pay a down and mortgage in an expensive area like LA and hopefully we could qualify for some owner occupant benefits (not sure about the details there). My concern with LA is that it would be difficult to find a property that works given the high prices and I'm not sure if I would take advantage of FHA loans because of it's high mortgage insurance cost.

On the other hand, I had initially thought to invest out of state by myself in a much more affordable home and rent out the place through a property manager. However, I would then need to purchase an investor mortgage and also I wouldn't be as familiar with the real estate market. In addition, I'm not clear on whether owner occupant mortgages are significantly better than investor mortgages.

I would be renting in both cases since I currently live in NYC and am not sure where I would want to stay long term. A third option I am entertaining is that I move out of state and house hack but that would be longer term as I haven't decided where. Wondering what others think or even details/things I have not considered. I am pretty lost here as to how to best get started...any advice would be welcomed. Thank you!