Welcome Rome.
I started my journey back in 2020 by purchasing a triplex in Houston that I'm house hacking. That triplex allowed me to save income to buy another rental property next door. I used an FHA loan at 3.5% down to purchase the triplex.
For house hacking, you want to try and find a property that will eliminate or reduce your housing costs of what you're paying now. Let's say you're currently paying $2,000 in rent + bills, I would try and find a property that reduces that to something like $0 - $500 and set aside the savings to use as a down payment on another property. If you live in the property 12 months, you can do it again by buying another house and moving into it and renting out the unit you were living in.
I wouldn't recommend single family for house hacking because you would be paying 100% of the housing cost with no renters to pay down your debt, unless you're willing to rent spare bedrooms and do it that way.
Interest rates and property values are high right now so buying where the numbers makes sense it tough. There's some creative strategies like Subject To and Seller Financing you could look into to finding better