I would take that money and do one of a few things with it:1-Look for a JV partner to do a larger deal with2-Keep learning about the market and investing as a whole and sit on the money until you have enough education to leverage it3-Use the money to set up your real estate business and buy leads & marketing betting on yourself may be the best of the optionsAlso tread lightly around the leave NJ advice places like OH, Baltimore, even parts of South Jersey can be money pits where ripping off out of towers is a cottage industry.

Is it easier to do a single family home or a duplex as first time home buyer with house hacking strategy?

They provide unsecured funds within 3-7 Business days once qualified.

If you want to find a STR manager that’s not going to take all your profits, you can use a company like Evolve, which is actually based in Denver and happens to be one of the largest in the business. 

While those escrow accounts are funded from GROSS cash flow - I don’t count those escrows as a part of my income from my business.  

Many people use this strategy as it seems to be the least risky.

I came across bigger pockets and I became infatuated with Real Estate & the house hacking strategy.

Each strategy comes with its own benefits and drawbacks.

When flipping however, if you do more than one or two per year it is likely that the flipping activity will be considered an active business and incomes and gains from that would be subject to Unrelated Business Income Tax.

Money in hand sounds great, but my portfolio strategy (even though it’s currently small) is long term buy and hold.