First Time investor/homeowner looking for the wisest path

[Abdul Zaman]

Hello my names Abdul Zaman, I’m a Civil Engineer that works in NYC (within the 5 boroughs) I am soon to move out of my families house and to get my own place with my wife (soon to be).. I am aware nyc is a very tough and expensive market to get into which is why my mind is pretty set on moving to New Jersey, somewhere close to nyc so I can travel (as long as it’s 1hr) away from Staten Island or Manhattan or Bronx from the soon to be house/investment. I have been researching up on multi family-house hacking, multifamily-new construction and or buying land or an investment and live in an apartment (via rent). I personally want to invest in real estate and gain enough properties that I can quit my w2 career and focus on family, life and passive income. I hope someone can advice me on how to start and where to start, I believe I make a decent income (six figure, which maybe doesn’t mean much these days), have above 700 credit score and don’t have any debt and can gather up to 70-90k in down payment. Which is the best route to take? Knowing that it’ll soon be just me (as the only income in the household) and my wife a young couple looking to build generational wealth. I hope someone can guide me, im aware in the first few years maybe we’ll have to sacrifice alittle on the living situation which we don’t mind at all as long as it’s a great investment in the long run and can lead to more.

Thank you so much,