you may have to save up until you have enough money to do so - down payment, closing costs, reserves, etc.House Hacking: What Is It, How to Start, and Strategies for Successit's a more powerful way to get started. 

Instead of shelling out $60K for a $250K deal, maybe some of you can help me figure out (or give referrals) to title companies, etc, or give overall advice how to save me money from this enormous financial endeavor (closing the deal).Thanks!

I'm not sure I'd want to go past 10 STRs ever and I'm trying to decide if it's worth Co-Hosting or just save up for the next one.

Instead you will cash flow right out of the gate and appreciation is faster in those states with TLC properties or adding things like an ADU, or Carriage home on a bigger lot.Most of my investors that live in CA purchase in those states listed above and in most cases its easy to introduce them to local Seasoned realtors Contractors, Handy Men/Women that can help them save money and feel secure about the distance from home to REI.

My original plan was to save up for a year and buy my first home.

My question is, do I just not touch the first property, use the cash flow to reinvest and pay down the mortgage or save up for a downpayment down the road OR do I pull cash out of the first property to buy the next property?

I want to save a little $ by not having to pay an agent over 25K in commission for a project like this.

Hey @Michael KlickUsing a HELOC to finance your first rental can be a great way to leverage equity in your primary residence without tapping into cash savings.

Another option I’d recommend considering is leveraging business funding, which can give you the flexibility to scale and take on multiple deals at once without depleting your personal savings or credit.For example, you could access $100K to $150K in 0% interest business credit—this doesn’t report to your personal credit, so it keeps your debt-to-income ratio low.

So I would encourage you to adjust your expectations starting out and develop the discipline of saving money so that every month your net worth is higher than the month before.