High income earner, Total beginner, Start with SFH or multi?

[Jared Ebert]

I am a high earning professional in a high stress job. I love my job, but I'm also often burned out, and my biggest goal with real estate investing is to find a way to pull back from my job. I think I can reasonably take about $35k from my income annually to put towards REI.

I'm a complete newbie. Originally, I was most interested in SFH. The more I read, the more I lean towards multi family. I can't help but wonder if I should wait and save and make my first purchase a multi family. I'm obviously not going to purchase a huge apartment complex, but I could theoretically purchase a 4-15 unit building with a few years of saving.

Is it better to wait and go big with the first purchase even if it means waiting, perhaps for years, to save enough? Or is it better just to get started and maybe trade up later?