Definitely be careful with CL though, as scammers and hackers abound on there.

So I made payments first to the originating bank, then bank one, bank two, and finally an unidentified investor, all in a period of two to  three years.The requirements of the banks are really the requirements of the loan buyers, mainly the borrower has to meet certain requirements, such as credit history, years on job etc. else the loan buyer will reject the mortgage. 

First time house hacker.

Focus on more affordable markets near NYC - NJ is a market where you can get into the multi-family game as a house-hacker, be close to the purchase price you've already been approved for, stay close to your job, and get in the property with 0% down.Best of luck to you moving forward!

Many of the duplex/quads on the market, I can see the past sales on a handful of them, where the seller paid about 30-40% less, just 2 years ago...and not due to remodel in the interim.Granted, there are more buyers for a $300,000 single family home, than there are for a $450,000 duplex....but investors, and/or house-hackers are bidding up the duplexes too.

You won't get that as a non-house-hacker!

If we do find one that we can put some elbow grease into, I'll be up for it as long as there aren't big fundamental issues that would take a lot of upfront cash.If I could offer any advice, I would encourage new house-hackers to look for investments with a small upfront capital outlay - remember the point of doing a house-hack is to offset your rent or mortage expense with rental income and potentially earn some additional income.

Any experienced House Hackers would love to hear your experience! 

@Michael Hacker sounds like you have it set up great.

@Gene Hacker Hi Gene.