My wife and I own a single-family home in a top school district.

I've been interested in real estate since high school, and I'm ready to make the plunge with a house hack.

I’d recommend looking for a market that’s affordable and has good rental demand—local job growth or proximity to schools can be a sign of a solid investment.

Me and my partner moved from Utah to Maryland for school recently and we have a townhouse that we are looking to rent. we are currently remodeling and changing a few things before renting. what are the first steps to change my primary to a rental I lived there for about two years.

And there are real estate text books, many used in business schools, as well as building trade books, magazines, youtube videos.

He can spend the next few years-ish getting a finance degree through an online school while working part time, but he just got offered a full time position helping with sales for a local wholesale real estate company. 

to your point, if you save up so that you're in a strong financial position, house hack a solid duplex in a decent neighborhood, make smart decisions, and hold it indefinitely, you'll be fine.conversely, if you have $0 and somehow start out with a risky flip, or borrow $20K and spend it all on a magic mentoring program, or buy a terrible property in a neighborhood you've never been to, you may not be fine.

But guess what, rates WILL drop in the next few months/years and most markets will explode after that IMO.If I had 25K I would look into B or B+ (specifically with schools above 5 greatschools rating, and moderate to low crime rate confirmed by heat map and frequenting businesses there) areas within 25 minutes driving distance from my home for a SFH. 

Our new house is also in a neighborhood with FASTER APPRECIATION, better schools, etc.

If you have a 20 year timeline, I'd probably recommend B areas closer to the city or in the better school districts in the suburbs for the highest combined ROI over that time period.Right now you can expect to find decently turnkey multis for about $60-$125k/unit usually all at least hitting the 1% rule in that range.