I should have driven this hood at multiple hours of the day before I bought.

However there are lenders starting to roll out a 15% down option. 

Quote from @Brendan M Hornung: I reside in Southern California and started my investment journey in March of last year by purchasing a sub-to single-family home in AL.

As an employee of a MF Development Company, your boss will expect you to dedicate full-time hours to your job.

Hello @Camille Romero congrats on getting started on your real estate journey. 

When we moved, we turned it into a rental, hoping this would be the start of our real estate journey—something we’d like to continue once my husband retires.Some key details:My husband is active duty and will retire in 3 years.We have one final move coming up this summer to Raleigh, NC.Our current debts are crippling us—the high interest makes it tough to stay afloat every month.The plan I proposed to my husband:Sell the rental property.Use the proceeds to pay off all our debts, set aside emergency funds and a down payment for our next home.Free up $1,500/month from debt payments, and that also can stash in a high-yield savings account.Regain full VA loan entitlement, allowing us to purchase a multifamily home and use the house hacking strategy for up coming move.Avoid capital gains tax, since April marks five years of ownership, and the tenant’s lease ends in May.This wasn’t our original plan, and we hate the idea of using our equity to pay off debt.

If this roof leak started suddenly during a storm and damaged the ceiling spontaneously you may not have much to go on.

Probably starting mid-year 2025 hopefully those are leased up and stabilized and then we're off to the races again in SGF.You could also just simplify everything and park it in one house in Highland Park. 

I have a different answer to this; I started my real estate business in 2004, residential of course.

@Darrius LloydTo start your house hacking journey, research neighborhoods with potential for multifamily properties and balance affordability with tenant quality.