Starting out with 25k - Best Passive Options Outside of house hacking?

[Michael T Walsh]

Hi Everyone!

A little about myself - I've been looking into RE investing for a little over a year now while saving up capital and paying off high-interest student loans as fast as possible. I am now in a position to begin investing and have roughly 25k to work with (just in time for >7% rates). I initially centered a lot of my research around house hacking, but quickly came to the realization that multi-family is out of budget in my current location (downtown Chicago, IL). Since I was already approved for FHA, I pivoted to wanting to buy a condo that I would live in for a year, then rent out after that. However, I came to learn that most rentals in downtown Chicago are actually cash flow negative due to extremely high taxes and current interest rates. I am not in a position to hold an investment for long-term equity while eating negative flow each month.

So, my current situation is working a demanding consulting job with unfriendly hours that also requires me to live in downtown Chicago. My question is - what would you recommend to someone who is chomping at the bit to get going, but also needs the first few investments to be on the passive side? Is it working to find a turnkey with private, low-down payment lending and minimal maintenance? Is it crowdfunding? Airbnb? 

I am open to investing in other markets outside of IL, but am nervous about my ability to stay on top of that sort of investment, especially without knowing the market...

I realize there is no right answer, but I really enjoy reading through the blogs here with advice from all of you impressive and talented individuals, so thought I'd throw it out there and see if there is anyone else who started in a similar spot!