Soliciting Advice and 2 Cents

[JD Peters]

Okay here's the scenario, faced with two courses of action. I live in Southern California, where obviously it's expensive to live. Perhaps homes are overvalued by 5-7%. However I have considered purchasing a multi-family home to utilize in house hacking. This would save me considerable $ on a month to month basis. Conservatively about $1000. Downside is large downpayment and maybe an overpriced market. Now on the other side I could take that down payment for the multi and purchase a few single families in other markets and cash flow all day at about $300-600 a home. Downside is multiple transactions and my cost for housing remains the same or perhaps goes higher if rents rise. Now comparing the two I am leaning toward the multi and saving myself about $1k a month or maybe more in one transaction rather than trying to acquire 3 single families and cash flowing $900-$1800. Here's where you guys come in. What would you do?