WHAT WOULD YOU DO? First deal breakdown inside. Second deal advice needed.

[Nicholas Pisano]

Hi all,

Here's the current sitch:

My fiance and I are under contract on our first property in Ulster County, NY.  It is a duplex that we will house-hack.  We have two options with financing:

20% cash down. Completely drain our reserves. Have a lower monthly payment, not pay PMI, be able to save a bit more from the W2 jobs each month, as well as having a greater percentage of the mortgage covered by the upstairs tenants. Start with 20% equity.

5% cash down. Keep ~$50,000 in cash available. Have a higher monthly payment. Have a PMI payment. Have basically no equity to start.

We are inclined to go with 5% and use that $50k to steamroll right into our second deal.... the dilemma is... what kind of deal? 

A fix & flip or BRRRR using hard money? If so, can we do it in NY state? Seems expensive. Been looking in Ohio, Florida, and Philly.

A SFH to keep as a long term rental? Great overall investment, but that $50k will be gone and not coming back anytime soon.

TWO SFH in a cheaper market? (Again, looking Ohio?)

Buy and move into second duplex in Ulster County next year?

We don't save much from the W2 jobs.  Once this $50k is gone, it will take years to rebuild.  We feel great about this purchase we are securing now. 

We really need to make sure the second deal is a smart one as it will eat up most of our reserves.  What would you do?

I like fix & flip to build some working capitol.  Have no experience.  Please advise! Many thanks.