I am new to real estate investing and got into it because of the book The House Hacking Strategy.I live in San Diego; the rent is just crazy.

If I were investing in eastern WA, or where my extended family lives in Pennsylvania, those 100k houses in good condition are a real thing there.  

When you sign almost all mortgage closing packages, you are signing an Occupancy Clause that states you are intending to live in the home for 12 months.  

Unless you have the rentals paid for by the time you retire, they aren't going to be enough to live off of. 

I don't know your living situation but if your paying x,xxx for rent or a mortgage and instead by living in one side and renting out the other you will be paying y,yyy instead and y is less then x that's great, especially if you can rent out your primary residence and make income there too. 

I have lived in the US for about 10 years. 

Quote from @Brendan Doherty': I’ve read in books of people getting past having to live in the property they own so they can rent all units year one of ownership(living on the property with an rv).

Housing is one of those things that people like to scream about, but the reality is that there are more than enough places for everyone to live.

Hopefully, not an expensive tenant or Fair Housing lawsuit.100% of what @Travis Biziorek states is true, but he left out a key fact - he lived in the Detroit area when he started investing here, so was able to self-manage and meet everyone he had to hire face-to-face.

It always seems the people that don't live in CA or have ever lived in CA are always the one leading the bandwagon of "why would anyone live in CA?".