I'm sure this was not comfortable or fun to spend this money for the fixes but the fact that you were able to find a way to do so and stay in the game is really a feat so kudos there!

If you told him you have been playing pickup games for the past year and need help improving your jump shot, now he has evidence you're motivated and a specific goal he can quickly help you work towards.

"It's a numbers game".Ohh and please ignore all the other people here on biggerpockets asking the exact same question dealing with your exact same issues complaining that they all are getting the same horrible results.

Real estate is a LONG game and a good way to build wealth through equity.

A tax account ensures nothing is accidentally spent elsewhere, and a marketing account makes sure lead generation is always prioritized.From a credit perspective, connecting credit cards to these accounts on autopay helps you manage spending responsibly while playing the credit game.

Changing the strategy can help get in the game. 

So I require skin in the game (average is 5% to 15%) to offset this.

Hi @Tim Holt I think in general house hacking is usually a good move because it gets you off the sidelines and into the game with the most favorable financing possible (30 year fixed).There's a lot of value in getting started today vs waiting some undefined number of years until conditions are better, which could be a long time from now, because real estate is a business and the sooner you start actually learning about that business, the better.With all that said, I always recommend that people analyze any potential house hack as a pure investment that they aren't going to live in, because someday they may want to move out and you should know up front (before you commit) whether you're going to be able to do that, or whether you're overpaying and will be stuck in the property unable to move out because it'll be cash flow negative if you do.So you had it exactly right when you wrote, "the property would need to cash flow when I move out and rent out all units."

All insight is appreciated :) @Deja Clark LOVE your willingness to jump in the game.

The real estate game is all about relationships and strategies, and this is one of the most important topics to get right early on!