Should you buy a home for yourself first, or a rental unit first?

[John Brooks]

I recently purchased my first home for myself and my family to move into. I thought it was a good start because I could gain equity and use it to my advantage later. I also got tired of paying someone else to live in their house and saw this as a forced savings account. A coworker of mine is saving his money up to buy a rental first to start his passive income dream. Is one way better than the other? Are they equally beneficial? Or does it just depend on your situation?

For added context if it helps, I live in the CA, San Francisco Bay Area.

[Tommy Loretz]

@John Brooks

My first purchase in the Bay Area will be a 3 or 4 unit building that I can house-hack (live in 1 unit and rent out the others). I, as well as most of BP, view this as the best of both worlds; Building your own equity while also starting out with investment management.