New and Looking to Make First Real Estate Purchase

[Sebastian Albors]

Hello! I am new to the group, real estate investing in general, and trying to learn so that I can take my first step into real estate. The idea of owning real estate as an investment has always made me excited, but truthfully I don't know a lot about my options. Along with the research I am doing, I'd love to hear from others about their firsthand experience.

I am 33 years old, recently married, no kids but plan to have our first in the next year. We live in Asheville, NC, which seems to be a pretty expensive market. One important detail is that my brother currently lives with us, and we are open to having him stay with us if we do make a purchase as a renter to help cover our mortgage.

I see our main options as the following:

1) Buying an SFDU to live in, and "house hack" with my brother continuing to live with us and pay rent
2) House hacking with MFDU. Doesn't seem to be a lot of options around here for that though
3) Continuing to rent where we live, and buy a separate property to rent out

I personally feel like having my brother to help out as a renter is a huge advantage. Although we wouldn't want that to do that forever, we definitely don't mind it for the time being.

 I'm curious from others that have more experience, what feedback you'd have for someone making their first purchase? 

I am excited to learn and hopefully make our first purchase soon!