Ironically, home prices have actually risen faster during the worst pandemic in a century instead of getting cheaper.

The exchange will be the rate but the simpler/faster might be more of what you need.

https://www.kqed.org/news/11737431/with-a-new-uc-campus-and-more-jobs-merced-is-booming-but-that-growth-isnt-for-everyone:“Merced has experienced the top personal income growth of any metro area in the country for the past five years, mostly fueled by an expanding UC campus”.

I wanted to start with buy and hold because of the monthly cash flow, but flipping becomes attractive (at least to me) when you can pair up with someone with experience in that area and learn from them which I may have an opportunity to do, as well as being potentially more lucrative and getting a faster return.

Furthermore, Section 8 and other city programs provide opportunities for house-hackers to fill their vacancies faster, collect market rent, and passively collect guaranteed rent each month.Lastly, NYC as a whole is not much of a cashflow market (excluding high down payment deals) but house-hacking is still a solid strategy.

I called the propane company and was told if i cancelled my account, they will take the tanks(BOTH) back and i will not get credit for unused fuel in it. 

If parking is scant or ill-defined it is bound to be a pain-point for your tenants (and you) and something that fuels their turnover more than is good.

Also, when I get really frustrated, that fuels me to get things done.

Where can I apply myself to see better faster results?

Although they both have their advantages, I would buy a MF home for a house hack over a SFH mainly because you can scale faster when growing your portfolio.