Purchase a Home or My First Multi-Family?

[Karen Gordon]

Hi! I am a single mom and RE rookie in the SF Bay Area. I am currently renting for 3K a month (i know, it's insane here) and need to stay in this area for the next few years until my daughter graduates high school. I am planning to buy a home when my lease is up this summer for $650K with an FHA loan and 5% down so my mortgage will be about 4K a month. I would house hack, however it's very hard to do that here since everything is so expensive.

My question is should I continue renting and spend my 40K savings on a down payment for a quad somewhere like Cincinnati or use my money to purchase my first home, just to get out of renting? It will probably take me another year and a half to save another 40K to do a deal. Any strategy feedback would be great!