Long story short, he ended up buying a worthless piece of land. 

Institutional lenders will look at your non/short employement as a negative. 

But the cost to play that game is higher than the likes of Eugene or Roseburg or Salem.

Dear Wilkes-Barre-Scranton area, my name is Gabe and I'm relatively new to the real-estate game- but I'm eager to learn.

If that time is relatively short, then a refi might make sense.

There is a reason we lenders require "skin in the game" and experience.

Without factoring in tax benefits and principal pay down, you're $1800 ahead of the game by house hacking.

Should I re evaluate what strategy I should use and maybe look further out in places such as Rochester and BRRR properties out thereHey @Jared Leggett, I know I'm jumping in here late in the game, and I have to admit that I haven't read all the many comments you've gotten, but I wanted to provide what I imagine and glean is a contrary view.It is easy to dunk on NYC for young investors starting out, but if you are a first time homebuyer you can buy a $1M property with $35k down (+ closing costs which can be avoided with seller's concessions).

To me it’s a challenging game, an intricate puzzle where if you learn how to play you get great results.

Just suck it up in the short term and reap the benefits in the future.