These areas may offer more affordable multifamily properties that fit your house hacking goals.Rochester and other distant markets could work for a BRRRR strategy, but it’s a big commitment given the distance.

This affects which strategy you could pursue.

I think the BRRR strategy is a good way to get started. 

As somebody new to REI, what is the best way to handle rent lost when buying a fixer upper during the work?  Do you get a contractor in before making an offer/after, get an estimate on the work and time and then deduc...

The only random thought that come to my head was I Just thinking about lateral versus vertical scaling.

I found one who's strategies made sense, 10 years later my wife and I have been financial free for about 5 years now by leveraging the concept of house hacking. 

Another lesson I’ve learned is that buying a single family home as my primary residence to later lease to a tenant is a bad strategy unless I’m purchasing the property at a really low price.

Anyway, a strategy that used to work very well. 

What strategy are you considering: buying, managing for others, arbitrage, etc?

Are you planning to hold as-is and focus on cash flow, or do you have a strategy for infill, increasing rents, or improving park infrastructure to boost value?