Hello from Chicago, my first housing hack, looking for advice!

[Lee Edgewood]

Hi all!  

I'm new to the community and wanted to say hi!  I'm looking to chat with anyone who is either in the same situation as myself or anyone experienced and likes to chat about the process of the house hack, and managing rentals.  If you're local to Chicago, that would be great, as we can discuss the local markets, etc.  If you're also new to the process, it might be fun to talk about our respective plans going forward.  If you're experienced and willing to give an eager but ignorant guy a chance, I'd love to hear some advice about Chicago neighborhoods, past experiences positive or negative, and general advice or that specific to Chicago!

I'm on the North Side, and currently renting (paying someone else's mortgage!). I'm looking to get into a 3 or 4 flat and hoping to reduce my personal housing bill while gaining all the joys of owning and managing a property! (yes I said joys.) This comes as a surprise to most people who I talk to, but I'm actually thrilled about becoming a landlord and managing units and tenants! I'm sure it'll come with plenty of its own headaches, but I like a good challenge.  I'm looking in some of the obvious neighborhoods experiencing growth, including Avondale, Albany Park, Lakeview, Edgewater, Rogers Park, as well as some more steady areas like Lincoln Square, North Center, Andersonville. 

Hope to meet some of you soon, and looking forward to hearing what you have to say!