Being able to do your own renovations and improvements will give you a serious advantage when house hacking or even working on your own projects.Akron has some solid real estate opportunities, especially for house hacking in multi-family homes.

Hello - I am wondering which MLS to choose for New York City and how to get an MLS ID? 

Make sure your lease stipulates its a "shared property" and list all the rules to make sure they toe the line, garbage, one vehicle(where parked), noise, no personal items in yard, everything you can think of or choose/whatever.

I would recommend that you screen your tenants and have them complete a background check with a company of your choosing and not just accepting Zillows in house background check that some of the tenants already have.

Once you have a shortlist, sign up for an account with each one and test them extensively to see how they function.

I aim to invest in multi-family homes with my partner, using a buy-and-hold strategy to build our portfolio and expand over time.

Multi family properties here in the valley are tougher to come by than a lot of other states. 

if I'm choosing one market/property vs another.

Buildium is a LTR platform that what looks to be recently added some STR functionality. 

@Kitty Walker- As an investor, I've refinanced multiple Padsplits and co-living properties (where we go direct to tenant without Padsplit), and I generally agree with your last statement, with some caveats:- if the renovation is done well, the appraiser may not even say anything that would indicate it is an "abnormal" SFR (has happened multiple times with me)-the investor may be wise not to make the house crazy- just leave a nice open living room, put double doors on the dining room so it can function as a bedroom now but be easy to convert later, etc.