Advice for first-time house hack in Denver

[Rafi Barash]

Looking to get my first property in Denver by doing a house hack. Considering townhomes and multi-family but most likely looking to do a single family rent-by-room house hack since I'm single and in mid 20s.

Thinking something along the lines of:

- 550-750k spot with 75-115k down payment at 7.6% APR

- Ideally 4-5 bed, 3-4 bath where I could occupy basement room and rent 3 other rooms for ~1k each

- Looking at following areas (open to others): Wheat Ridge, Lakewood, Sloan's Lake, Berkeley, Sunnyside

I was specifically wondering what y'all think about the following but would appreciate any advice :)

- What areas near Denver are best for SFH house hack?

- 550-750k is a big range, thoughts on going with lower price further outside Denver (ex: Lakewood or Arvada) or higher price in more desirable area (ex: Sloan's Lake)

- Should I be more open to multi-family / townhome?

- Should I put closer to 20% down or leverage more with 10-15% down?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice :)