Do you start with a primary residence?

[Kyle N.]

I've seen a lot of information on rent vs own your primary but what about in general your primary residents/1st property? I live and work in the bay area and currently looking for my first to house hack. When people decided they wanted to go into real estate investing did they continue to rent, MFH, SFH, or go out of state. Everyone talks about their second but what about their first? Did you already have a home when you started?