OZ is worth a look if you need liquidity, but eventually you will have to pay some tax utilizing that option.  

They either take too long or they throw in a ton of fees before closing making it not worth it?

As home values rise, so does your net worth.

@Victor Yang I am not a CPA but you cannot take passive losses (real estate activities) to offset active income (W2) unless you make under a certain threshold from your W2 (I don't recall the exact salary).That being said if it is turnkey and you can't value add to create rent growth then probably not worth it at the price

To answer your title directly, house hacking is entirely worth it and if you're willing to be a landlord it's 100% the best springboard to financial independence.

@Chris Mahoo many new investors don't take the time to properly understand RE investing.1) Many are using approaches from 2010-2018 when Class A property prices were so low from the Great RE Crash that an investor could cashflow and get pretty easy Class A tenants to manage.2) If you look at what investors were doing before 2008-2010, most were buying Class B & C rentals.To make it worth while, an investor either needs to Fix & Flip or invest & hold rentals for 10+ years.- Over a 10 year period cashflow will increase as rents increase (rents typically rise faster than property taxes, insurance, etc.)- The property should be appreciating, if purchased in a good location, increasing the owner's equity/wealth.- Rents will be paying the mortgage off, increasing the owner's equity/wealth.- If you hold a rental until death, you can pass it on with a stepped-up cost basis, limiting captial gains if then sold (limited by inheritance tax limitations).Too many newbies on this site trying to replace their day job income via "passive" real estate investing w/o digging deep enough to understand how it really works.

The house I will get is in a lower income area, currently worth $95-100k, and she still owes about $25k on it.

This requires a dedicated effort sourcing and analyzing hundreds of deals to find the one or two worth pursuing.  

. $150 cash flow on any rental especially a triplex is dangerzone imo. 1 month of vacancy of 1 unit could destroy a years worth of financial gains.  

I can't speak too much to the market on the Westside, but as far as affordability on the West Coast Spokane is worth looking into.