I’m paying that balance down little by little each month though. 

This is just my opinion; I am biased, as I stated before.The Cleveland area can achieve any real estate strategy you are looking for.

Once they make this transition, the appreciation is where the big returns are achieved.  

Both Prosper and Lending Club offer loans big enough to cover your 50% down payment.Something I would never recommend to most people, but as a last resort -- if you absolutely knew you COULD pay it off any time you wanted, you could put the down payment or at least a big chunk of it on a credit card and float it between 0% balance transfer offers until you get it paid off.

New sales in the house hack sector went from 219 last year to 224 this year.Westchester’s most popular neighborhoods for 2-4 family properties:Yonkers: 85 dealsMount Vernon: 35 dealsNew Rochelle: 17 dealsGreenburgh: 14 dealsRye: 12 deals* Ossining & Harrison: 10 deals respectivelyConclusionInventory increases across the board could signal an oncoming balanced market.

When the market is more balanced, then it may make sense to buy a primary and convert it to a rental when you move.There are exceptions, but you will need to learn how to really analyze a property to know when the numbers make sense.

I don't think cap rate for residential RE is necessarily the best metric, but I try and achieve a 10% minimum gross rent to purchase price figure, so a $300K property I am hoping to achieve a $30K/month gross income goal.

It's a delicate balance as a PM.

Ask people in BP who are not selling books and courses how many have achieved this.

A conventional loan with 5% down may offer a balance of reduced PMI and attractive rates for Northern NJ home buyers with strong credit scores.