My partner would be the one living in one of the units so he would help me out by getting a house hacking mortgage since it would technically be owner occupied and we wouldn't need to put 25% down.

The other option would be to continue saving and wait another year to buy a MF House-Hack here in SoCal.

Obviously VA you'd have to go owner occ but still a very good way to get started with a house hack. 

You'd probably have better luck with some kind of duplex/triplex house-hack with an FHA or similar. 

For house hacking specifically, SCREEN WELL!

If a mortgage lender pulls your credit, any other inquiries that are coded the same way do not affect your credit score for 30 days.If you are potentially buying more than one 2-4 unit property (house hacking), there is a strategy to the order in which to use your VA benefit, FHA, and Conventional financing. 

If so, then you have more options - better LTV and even better LTV if you house hack or get a "2nd home" loan.Will the seller finance it for a short period?  

Or a house hack with the upper area staged with a mini kitchenette for airbnb or income unit.

Purchase price: $170,000 Cash invested: $9,000 This was my first investment property and my first personal property bought as a buy and hold while I House Hack.

And house hacking was my strategy of choice.