House hacking with a family of 5 in NYC?

[Enrico Bertini]

Hi I am just starting this magic world of rental property investing and I am super fascinated by house hacking.

However, I am wondering if I have any chances to house hack (or use similar strategies) in New York City with a family of 5. We currently live in downtown Manhattan in an apartment subsidized by my employer. There is no way I could afford anything similar in this area if it was not subsidized. As things stand now we are spending in the ballpark of ~4k every month which feels totally wasted (this is the amount I could put towards a mortgage also).

However, if we were to target areas we can afford we would have to completely change our lifestyle (as far as I understand from checking house prices in Manhattan). We also have lots of friends in the neighborhood. So I am left with the dilemma: should I completely change my family's lifestyle or give up the idea of making a smart investment with our house? Or is there actually a way to make a smart investment in a very expensive area like the one we live in?

For instance, while moving to a completely different area would have a huge impact on our life, we would not mind leaving in less space (we are in a 3 bedrooms now).

Thanks!