House Hack or SFR in Richmond VA

[Jessica Stevens]

Hello!

I'm new to BP and very excited to start in my investing adventures. My family and I are about to make a big move to a new city, Richmond VA, and I would like to take advantage of our moving situation to begin investing.

Should we looking into a multi-family house (probably a duplex or quadruplex) and live in one of the apartments or buy a less expensive house as well as a SFR for the investment portion? I thought about living in the rental for a few years and then renting it out once we had more cash flow and could afford something else. I keep reading a lot of investors start with living in the rental property but what is the downside to this?

Anyone in the Richmond, VA market that could offer advice? Are there multi-family opportunities or more SFR in this market? I've been to visit a few times and searching online daily, but with such a large and changing area, it's been hard to get a feel for what's actually happening.

Thanks,

Jessica