One of the best ways to enter into Real Estate with little cash is buying a duplex and living in one of the units!

4o Hi Monty, I Live 15 minutes from the freeport area with building and flipping experience.

I'd highly recommend house hacking in your local market since you're in one of the highest cost of living areas in the US, especially if you're renting currently and planning on staying in the area for 5-10 years.It sounds sexy to go out and invest out of state for your first property.

If you need the cash flow to live on and it will improve your lifestyle, then go for it.

But this was an awesome opportunity for me because this is my first living situation where I will be on my own (and getting used to paying a rent/mortgage) but this will put my overall mortgage on a 400k house at roughly $2000 a month for the first year!

I used to have a two bedroom apartment that I lived in and I would rent out the second room on Airbnb and one time I got a guest and she would leave her windows open.

@Isaac TerryIn terms of it being worthwhile, just like most other markets out of state if the barrier or entry is too high where you live, the landlord laws are not favorable where you live, and you are looking for positive cashflow then Cleveland can be a good option.

Living in top unit and renting out the bottom.

I actually live Pinellas County.  

After 25 months, If they can prove that they lived in the property for two of the past five years, they can sell it as an owner-occupied residence.