New Real Estate Investor Seeking Help

[Nicolas Bajner]

Hello!

My name is Nicolas and this is my first post on the forums!

I am looking into real estate investing in and around the Chicago area (preferably out of cook county to avoid their insane taxes). For my first rental I am seeking an affordable multi family home to house hack, create income, save that income, and use it to continue a career in real estate investing. I live in the suburbs of Chicago currently and would rather stay in the suburbs to keep my current job. Preferably 30 minutes away from Arlington Heights where I work (I work in a hospital that requires I live close enough so that if I need to come in during an emergency, I can arrive in less than 37 minutes). During my look at some properties, and working with my realtor to decide which properties are even worth looking at, I found myself running into the problem of seeing there is not much available at the moment that can cash flow decently, or even looks desirable to invest in due to issues with the properties that would run my wallet dry. Now, that could be due to me incorrectly inputting numbers into the real estate investing calculator but I always double check and make sure my numbers are correct. It could also be due to the fact that I plan on living in my first rental property, so maybe I am being too picky with the properties? Or maybe is it because of the current market that I am having these issues and I should wait to invest? I would rather invest sooner than later and begin creating passive income, but I am having a hard time finding a good property within my budget that can cash flow effectively. Is there anyone else having these issues? Is there something personally I can do, or is this just the waiting game and keeping an eye open on every property I can trying to pounce on "the one"

Thank you!