First time buyer & new investor: Is it a good time to buy now?

[Elif Erguclu]

Hello everyone,

I'm a first time home buyer and would like to know if right now is a good time to buy a property. I know that (according to the educational videos here on BP) the market has a cycle. Since I'm new to this whole field, I wanted to know how I could determine what stage of the "Cycle" we are currently at. So I thought I should pose this question here and get some insight. 

A bit of personal information: I would like to buy a house to live and rent (aka the idea of "House Hacking"). 

Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks