What's better? Single family or multifamily for first investment?

[Dajana Topic]

What's better? Buying a single family home first or buying a duplex? Can't decide which way to go. Either one would be our primary residence, so down payment and closing costs are fairly the same. We have found homes that have basements converted into apartments, which we could rent out for income and have also found duplexes with one unit occupied. We want to buy our primary residence and quickly after buy an investment property, which I know would be 20% down. I guess I'm asking does it really matter which one we start out with first or am I overthinking this process after intaking vast amounts of information. Any suggestions are appreciated. (FYI, looking in SC and OH, open to other places as well.)

[Randa Dehaan]

I would go the multi family route! If your goal is to have multiple investments, it’s the best way to acquire multiple doors at once — and helps you pay for your own mortgage! You can also utilize the 5% down program on 2-4 units multiple times so that’s another strategy that you can repeat.