House Hack in SLC vs. Investing Out of State?

[Adam Laurenzo]

Hey folks, I'm looking for some local SLC expertise on starting out with real estate.

A little background: I've been investing most of my money in the stock market the past few years, with a view towards financial independence in the next 10 years or so. I'm quite happy with the results but looking to get into some REI if I can get bigger returns. I've got about $40-50K for that purpose. My partner and I currently rent in Millcreek (essentially a 2+1 house at ~$900/mo.), and aren't really itching to leave that situation without good reason.

Based on some cursory research over the past couple months, I've arrived at two options that interest me:

1.) Buy a duplex or SFR with mother-in-law here in our area and house hack. This seems challenging due to the state of the market, but perhaps not impossible? It would have to be roughly in the Millcreek/Murray/Cottonwood area as I insist on riding my bike to work and spending insane amounts of time in the Cottonwood canyons. I realize there are more economical options in the far west, but I'm trying real hard to not contribute to our inversions.

OR

2.) Keep renting. Buy turnkey properties out of state.

I humbly ask for your input; what would you do with your $50K in my place? Also, if it's option one, I'd love any recommendations for Agents dealing in duplexes/mother in laws in the aforementioned areas.

Thank you all for your time in reading this.