House Hacking in Chicago

[Anne Leger]

Hello,

I wanted to introduce myself to the wonderful BiggerPockets community. I'm a newbie and want to get more involved in the networking and community aspect of this forum.  I am a 28 year old marketing professional in Chicago, IL and my husband and I are tired of just renting and not getting ahead financially/being stuck in the rat race. We have been getting more plugged into learning and diving into understanding real estate investing by listening to podcasts, reading books (including "Set for life" which is awesome), doing research etc. We have a goal of purchasing our first place in a year, however after learning about different options to build more financial freedom we are mainly interested in house hacking our first property. Our goal would be to purchase a 2 unit multifamily place (i.e., duplex or a place that we could potentially convert a portion to rent out). We plan to live in one unit and rent out the other. While we are starting our research, I am posting this to see if any individuals can share their knowledge or experience on house hacking with me, especially in Illinois and the Greater Chicago area. We are open to exploring options outside of the city, if it makes more sense financially.  Any help or knowledge would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Annie