First Time Real Estate Buyer - Seeking Advice on Single Family VS Mutli Family Units

[Jackson Pudlo]

I'm a first-time homebuyer looking to start my real estate investing journey and would appreciate some advice. For context, I'm 25 and planning to move in with my soon-to-be fiancée. We want to purchase a property to begin building our rental portfolio but are unsure of the best approach.

We live in Sonoma County, California, and I work in Healdsburg. Together, we have over $200K (mostly in stock market investments), and our parents may help with the down payment. I've read BiggerPockets' Real Estate Investing book and am particularly interested in the house hacking strategy, as I'd like to move out of my current living situation.

Our main dilemma is choosing between a single-family home (renting out one room to a close friend) or a multifamily property like a duplex or triplex. Meeting a 20% down payment to avoid PMI seems manageable, although would take a big chunk of my liquid net worth, and I prefer this route over using an FHA loan. My biggest concern is managing additional units and tenants. We have no experience managing tenants but have both been renting for a few years now, which has given us some perspective on being good landlords. I work 11-12 hour shifts, five days a week, in a demanding role, leaving me with little free time. My partner works full-time but has a less stressful and more flexible schedule. She has expressed strong interest in managing the property and is very organized, which complements my more scattered approach to things. I'd rely on her to handle much of the day-to-day management.

Given this, we're leaning toward a single-family home where we can comfortably rent a room to someone we trust. However, I'm drawn to the long-term benefits of multifamily properties. The increased cash flow and the ability to pay down the loan more quickly are the biggest draws for me.

Am I underestimating the time commitment of managing a multifamily property? Should I wait until I can dedicate more energy to this? Or are the advantages too significant to pass up?

Ideally, this would be just one step in a larger plan to grow into multiple rental units over time. Any insights would be greatly appreciated!