Should I build a rental property?

[Kyle Muilman]

I am a recent college graduate who is now an engineer in the Austin area and am looking to now get started in real estate investing. I have been learning about and planing on house hacking for the last year and a half or so. Originally my idea was to buy multi family and live in one unit, but after looking at the market for the last couple of months have realized that this is out of my price range. My new plan is to acquire a 4-5 bed house and rent by the room to other young professionals in the growing Austin area. My question is should I buy a house or potentially have a house built. It seems like new developments are everywhere and both options are around the same price. Does anyone have any opinions on either option or advice you could give to someone starting at house hacking in general?