What many here do is turn their primary into an investment by house hacking. 

Hey James, I would start by house-hacking if you not done so already

I've house hacked 4 different times and never regretted it. 

I personally plan on purchasing a home within a year and start to house hack (depending on the FFG(X) contract that Joshua spoke about above).

What you described is House-hacking.  

Read some books about house hacking and buy something now.

. - Wife and I never made over $150k combined- Buy and hold is the primary strategy- House hacked twice- Took some major hits along the way.

My next step is purchasing my first multifamily property in Tampa, Florida, which will include tenants, as a house hack.

But I have started to take my real estate endeavors serious over the last year and my studies much more serious over the last 5 months and although I may not be ready, I am ready and eager to take that leap of faith and try and put what I know into affect with the right people and obtain my first property in the West Texas area via House Hacking or a buy and hold deal within the next 60-90 days. 

I am looking to start Real Estate(primarily focused on House Hacking and SFH if it goes well) as an engineer after graduating.