Where to start?/Financing Help

[Alex Banyasz]

Just starting my journey because I want to be on a path to financial freedom and put in motion some generation wealth for my kids and their kids.

Have a good 9-5, some money in the bank, but getting overwhelmed by the financing aspect and all of the different avenues where one can start. I've done some research into FHA and "House Hacking", but I don't really have any interest in living somewhere else at the moment. More so, I live in a super expensive area (Nassau County, Long Island, NY) where housing prices are really high and coming up with 20% may take time.

I love this idea of this. Reminds be of credit card hacking and award travel, but at least I perceive it to have a bit more risk and am getting a bit of analysis by paralysis. 

If anyone can relate to my situation and has some advice on where to begin researching or what strategy makes sense for me I'd really appreciate it.

[Nathan A.]

If you like where you currently live and really don't have any interest in living somewhere else, you'd need to buy investment property rather than house-hack. You're right that would require a larger down payment. Since housing prices are so high in your area, you could consider long-distance investing in a different market to get in with less cash. But I think a lot of people would tell you that house hacking is in fact a lot lower risk than long-distance investing. I would encourage you to reconsider house hacking a small multifamily.