Look James, to put this another way, Short-Term Rental industry destroys you're entire argument!

This could be an opportunity to get into the game in the area.If you ever want to connect, grab a drink, and talk real estate, hit me up.

The real estate game is all about relationships and strategies, and this is one of the most important topics to get right early on!

They have more skin in the game then you do.Make sure you get clear title.

Hi @Tim Holt I think in general house hacking is usually a good move because it gets you off the sidelines and into the game with the most favorable financing possible (30 year fixed).There's a lot of value in getting started today vs waiting some undefined number of years until conditions are better, which could be a long time from now, because real estate is a business and the sooner you start actually learning about that business, the better.With all that said, I always recommend that people analyze any potential house hack as a pure investment that they aren't going to live in, because someday they may want to move out and you should know up front (before you commit) whether you're going to be able to do that, or whether you're overpaying and will be stuck in the property unable to move out because it'll be cash flow negative if you do.So you had it exactly right when you wrote, "the property would need to cash flow when I move out and rent out all units."

Why I would agree, it would be ideal to start one ourself but to be profitable at PM it seems to be a numbers game.

Quote from @Danny Gonzalez: @Paul CijunelisSo I’m not in the IL market, but I’ve owned a PM company for 5+ years, and here are some lessons I wish I’d known when starting out:1.Hire a VA Early: If you haven’t already, bringing on a Virtual Assistant is a game changer.

It was those 2022 delivered  projects where I became an accidental landlord that led me to focus more attention on building to researched housing needs rather than simply replicating the inventory other's bring to the market and it's been a game changer for me and my business. 

You are wise to limit your scope to a particular type of company.I have been in the industry for the past two decades, and from my years in the business, I can recommend a couple of other companies outside of my family. 

We added two firepits, multiple lounge areas, barbeque and eating area, stargazing chairs, yoga mats, games, large screen TV for movie nights, music and more.