Newbie from IL area looking for the first deal

[Rus I.]

Hi everyone,

My name is Rus and I'm from west suburbs IL area. I started my journey from reading Joshua's and Brandon's book and very glad to be here.

Me and my wife were planning to buy our own property next year (currently renting) somewhere in Plainfield, Naperville, Aurora or Orland area, but now I realize that I want to invest and build my portfolio. For us, the most attractive looking strategy would be house hacking, however, there are very few of them in good neighborhoods. So I was thinking maybe we can build our own duplex and live there for a few years, at the same time we would be qualified for the FHA load. Could someone walk me through the process(new construction) from the high level please? Also, what are your thoughts on buying/investing nowadays, with the given economic situation?

PS: English is not my primary language, sorry for my grammar and any typos.

Thanks!