Hey @Priti Gupta! Welcome to the community, it is a pleasure to have you!
Personally, I would definetly think about doing a house hack in the area first. For a few reasons...
1. It is investing on training wheels. If worst case scenario happens you are just paying your own housing expense.
2. It porvides you the basis of management, the purchase process, and other areas of investing.
3. It is typically the best ROI you will see, due to the better lending terms and low downpayment.
4. You start to build equity and momentum in an expensive market like Denver, which is what builds the wealth, not the cashflow.
A live-in flip is a form of house hacking, so choosing between that and renting out a portion of your house could be done in conjunction. Maybe you but a place with some cosmetic fixes get that done and then rent out some rooms. Or possibly a duplex where you rent one side, live in the other one while you fix it up, and then once that one is done, vacate the other unit, and switch and repeat. There are numerous ways of going about it, and honestly, it will come down to your personal financial situation and goals. If you want to accelerate your savings rate, and open up further opportunities then finding something turn key and renting part of it will be best, to offset your housing expense. But if you'd rather build the equity, learn more, and have a strong financial cushion, then a live-in flip can be a great opportunity.
Happy to connect and strategize further in your particular case. There is no one size fits all, but a house hack will help you get to a place where you can then invest out of state quicker and more confidently. It's not an or question, ask your self how can I do both.
