You will be living in someone else's house.

Use tools like the VA loan for house hacking and your Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) to cover living costs while building equity.

If you're going to live in it for a bit and fix it up you can adjust accordingly.

@Jerry Zigounakisi'd pick a market close to you, or one you have strong ties in, rather than trying to get to one via math.can you invest where you live, or 1-2 hours from where you live, or where you like to vacation, or where you went to college, or where you plan to move someday?

In my experience, a large percentage of them are fully functional adults that refuse to take personal responsibility for their lives, which is why they are receiving free rent from taxpayers instead of working for a living.

If you're going to start in a market you're eventually going to live in, I think that's a stronger case for that market."

Foreign citizen currently living in Miami.Any recommendations in general?

I live in California, this is a bay area property.were not looking to move out of state and house hacking is less palatable when a duplex costs 1.6 million.

I live in the Tyler, TX area, but I hold my mortgage licenses in Pennsylvania and Texas.

@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.