Bergen county has a lot more open space, so there is a lot of larger scale development going on there, but it takes months to years and years to get approvals, so there seems like less going on, but the market really is not stagnant at all. 

Then, decide on the product: SFHs, small MF, large MF, office, retail, etc? 

one large disadvantage  - if you need financing on it  - loans are not the easies to locate for condotels and for the options that  are out there - pricing is higher than " normal pproperty

I am finding a lot of small cottages or small MF , duplex or triplex on large R3 lots.... 

Each bedroom has two large double beds and a separate bathroom.

This is because students move from different cities for school, so the amount they are willing to pay for a room won't vary too much from city to city (whereas the family rental market depends largely on the local economy and average incomes). 

I know how buying a house for a primary residence can become an emotional decision which increases the amount a person is willing to pay... but with attempting to pick up a long-term buy and hold, at least in my experience, the profitably is largely determined at purchase (and of course subsequent to this, proper tenant screening and management of the property).

The idea is to scale, sell and buy in hotter markets like San Antonio after a few years.This is Rick from McAllen Texas and appreciate all you guys at Bigger Pockets.

Real Estate is a tough road, it has a ton of ups and downs, it starts slow for most people, but once you begin to gain momentum you get to a point where you have more leads and clients than you have time for, where you have to either scale up or down.

Should I wait to graduate and simply start off by house-hacking a few triplexes/quads and go from there, or should I start actively looking for deals to utilize my private lender and to get my foot in the door and start scaling as early as possible?