House hack or, rent and invest?

[Vincent Ludegna]

This is something I can’t seem to wrap my mind around, maybe someone with more experience can share some of their knowledge with me.

Say I have $60,000 saved in the bank and I want to buy my first property. My long term goal is to acquire a small portfolio of rental properties over the next 10 years. My short term goal is to purchase a property that gets my foot in the door of real estate, while also providing me a place to live.

That being said...

Do I buy a residential property with and FHA loan and house hack it?

Or.....

Do I put 20% down on a cash flowing rental property and go rent an affordable apartment elsewhere?