I’m especially interested in learning from those with experience in more expensive housing markets and from people who used really estate as a way to invest for their kids' colleges.

So... the definition of a house hack, I guess.

That could mean working with an investor willing to fund the deal for a share of the profits or starting smaller with a house hack or live-in flip to build credibility, or putting sweat equity into a deal with a partner to learn and build your track record.

It's running a business NOT renting a house.  

You can make house hacking work anywhere, really.

Warn them in the marketing (example: "This is an old house and noise travels between units.

I live in Utah, where the real estate market has exploded to say the least through COVID, so investing in my backyard isn't something I'm interested in right now.I'm looking for a market with houses available to be renovated under $50k!

The day I received my RE license my wife said “so when are you going to sell your first house”?

Have been talking about getting into real estate investing for the last 2-3 years and finally pulled the trigger on a 3 unit house hack in Soulard that will be closing later this month and will be self-managing the property.I'm trying to network a bit with other investors, build a solid team of contractors / handymen, and set my systems up in way to scale, but also so my tenants have a good experience.

You can pick up houses cheap in the area but there is not a lot of appreciation.