House Hacking... SFR or MFR? (CA / Inland Empire)

[Ricky Anon]

Hello everyone!

My name is Rick and I've been thinking about getting into the real estate game for some time now. I have finally decided to take the plunge. After doing some research, I've come to the conclusion that house hacking is the way to go for me (as it is for most people starting out!). The problem is that I live in a very high priced market (Southern CA) so that really limits my options. Luckily, I work in the Inland Empire so I can look for properties in this area, which is not as crazy as Los Angeles. I still want to be somewhat close to LA (family, gf, and friends all live there) so I'm looking at areas such as Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, Ontario, Riverside.

I'd love to "hack" a duplex but I don't think I can find anything in my price range in this area, unless I look East. That would put me in areas such as San Bernardino, Highland, Moreno Valley.... far from LA and not so desirable areas. So that's an option I have... the other one would be to look into SFRs in the areas I want , and rent out rooms. This would put me in a location I'm happy with, but would sacrifice privacy and would make it more difficult to place "tenants" in the extra rooms...

So that's my dilemma... I feel a bit lost now and don't know which way to go. Would love to get some feedback and hear what you guys think. Anything to point me in the right direction. So what do you think?

Thanks in advance for any input!

Rick