Renting vs. house hacking in the Bay Area

[Benjamin Lenz]

Hey BP family! 

I just moved back home to the Bay Area from NYC. Hoping to meet @David Greene one day if I'm lucky. Anyways, after many years of saving, I have enough for a downpayment to buy a property in the East Bay i.e. Pleasant Hill, Concord, MAYBE Walnut Creek. I'm curious to hear thoughts about my options on how to start to this REI journey. I've basically broken my choices down to a) Renting a room and putting my "downpayment savings" into rental properties in a cheaper market where it makes sense OR b) Buy a house here and house hack it. Aside from a hefty downpayment, the monthly out of pocket would probably be similar if I'm renting out the other bedroom(s) via house hacking. If you have an opinion or insight I would love to hear your perspective on this.

Happy Holidays everyone! 

Ben