It depends on your goals but I and many of my friends and clients started with house hacking and then used the equity to buy out of state.

HI Pinny,You can always start off by house hacking meaning you live in one UNIT or ROOM and renting out the other vacant units/rooms to offset your monthly mortgage payment.There are several ways to run and make sure you are maximizing your rental income while keeping your living expense as low as possible.

Beyond that, any excess cash I have will either go into investments or into savings for a down payment on my next property that I can house hack again.

House Hacking How did you finance this deal?

The community would love to hear about other automation hacks or tools that make STR management easier.

If you come across one, especially a new build, that could be a great house hack.

I'd say house-hacking is one of the best ways to get your foot in the door of real estate investing.

It is a duplex, I am house hacking and living in the upstairs unit.

@Ellen MarshallTo calculate a net monthly cost of $800 for a duplex house hack, input rent and property expenses.

Quote from @Landon Mizuguchi: @Michael Plaks if you're living in the house and renting rooms  (e.g. room hacking) you can't claim losses?