Invest in real estate while having student loans?

[Dylan Delancey]

Hello all, I am new to this forum and excited to be a part of the community. Ill strive to keep this short & sweet.

Currently, I am in my final year of physical therapy school and will be graduating this August with student loans. I have never purchased or taken part in any sort of real estate deal. However, I am highly interested as I am always looking for ways to invest for future returns and also simply believe I would enjoy the process.

My fiance and I are looking to purchase a duplex (multi-family home) as an investment in order to "house hack." The reason for house hacking would obviously be to essentially get our mortgage paid for and eventually have this to sell for profit or keep for passive income. Should we purchase a duplex while being in debt from student loans though? The answer seems to be yes across the board (from YouTube, etc) however that will be another big loan we are having to take out, although we would (hopefully) see returns from this investment. If we could get our mortgage paid for then we'd be able to pay more on our student loans. We both have a reasonable amount of money saved and I definitely will after a couple months of working. Any advice granted, please! Thanks!