Any general advice is much appreciated.You should house hack to start.

You either need to find a way to make and save more money or look into owner occupied investment strategies like a live in flip or house hack.

If you are looking to house hack in our local neck of the woods, I recommend reaching out to @Josh Green.

Consider house hacking when rates and prices are a little more balanced with reality.

I live in Lawrenceville, GA and am beginning my first house hack, working to purchase another property by the end of the year. 

I'd rather invest with the local 26 year old who lives in their second house-hack, drives their 10 year old car, and is raising their first small apartment syndication that they will self-manage, putting their own money into the deal, than some 45-year old guru who's secret sauce turned out to be their ability to charm on TikTok, but really, their approach to deals ended up being the "secret" to transforming $300M in real estate into $215M between 2021 and 2025.  

Looks like a hack job.

I have house hacked both properties while updating them.

Small multi-family is hot right now due to house-hacking (low barrier of entry), and future cash-flow. 

To OP, it's not as scary as you think it is, this will be your first home purchase, you can purchase a multi family or SFR and house hack.