I'm not fond of your Houston purchase because you didn't gain much value after spending over $25k.

I'm in the process of selling the office condo and will be taking a significant capital gain (about $300k).

The goal was to gain a rudimentary understanding of the multi-family industry, and I believe I've achieved that.

Even if you lived there for a year or so and decided to sell it, you could theoretically even lose money on the sale, but what you gained from house hacking for that period of time would out weigh that loss.

The Property gained roughly 15% value after the first year as the market skyrocketed.

Now I just got to ensure I have the knowledge and references for the jobs to gain the experience.

I purchased my first property (3-family in the Merrimack Valley in Massachusetts) around 6 months ago, and am currently living in one of the units and gaining experience as a landlord while renting out the other two.

Make some upgrades and sell it down the road and invest the profits.If you want to buy a rental and live in it first....then buy cheaper....much cheaper if you can stand it.While some people have traditionally bought, then moved, and rented the old house, you can also loose your nice capital gains exemption this way.   

Closed without problems and quickly gained a tenant.

Closed on property and bundled it with our other 3 for a refinance to gain capital for a new deal in the new year.