Brooklyn, NY – am I crazy to start here?

[Dan Ashley]

Hey all,

First time home buyer and my dream is to purchase a multi-family, reno and house hack in North Brooklyn. I want to live in one unit and rent out the other unit to help pay off the mortgage, then buy another spot when I have enough saved up as a vacation home.

I'm pretty set on where I live, been here 12 years and tired of paying rent.. but purchasing even a condo is 600k+ and multi-family in north brooklyn is easily 1mil. I have great credit, killer salary, and a bunch saved up but still can't afford a 20% down payment on anything over 600k. Buying a condo seems like a huge waste, whereas multi-family gives some cash flow to neutralize my monthly payments. Mostly worried that even if I find a place and the money, that I'll be making a big financial mistake and have little left to cover unexpected costs. Don't want to burn my money on the first go. 

Anybody have any advice? Am I totally priced out?

Thanks,
Dan