In moving back, we are hoping to find a multi-family duplex/triplex that we can house hack to help kick-start our investing portfolio.

If you spend what you make nothing is left to grow.For a lot of folks entrenched in the "spend everything they make" cycle the shortest term loan with the highest principle each month is what's required to kickstart their growth.  

However in the interim I'm really focusing on building relationships with people in the industry around the Washington/ Oregon region and then jumping into a project to kick start my real estate investing career.

*Good way to start your REI journey is house hacking I then connected with a with a local fellow teacher on BP in July 2015, he asked me if I would start going to a local meeting if he kick started it.

I'm interested in buy & hold investing in both Utah and Idaho, and also have some interest in using wholesaling to get kickstarted in investing.I'm here on BiggerPockets to learn, and I'm eager to soak up all the information I can, and plan to participate as much as possible.

House hacking provides a good entry point into real estate and will kickstart your investment portfolio.

House hacking  provides a good entry point into real estate and will kickstart your investment portfolio.

Starting in your local market is one of the best ways to learn the industry, make connections, and kickstart your portfolio.

I see plenty of airbnb/ vrbo short term rentals in orange county, I just dont know how regulated it would be to build "tiny homes" for that purpose I agree with@Zeona McIntyre, Winter Garden is literally one of the best submarkets in the country, the value of the land could be a tremendous way to kick start your RE career without having to do much.

I'd say that if you are willing to keep renting the extremely affordable 2 bed to allow you to kickstart your investing portfolio, that's a great strategy.