Small multifamily house hack vs partnership

[Kevin Dombrowski]

Hey everyone. New to the forum and to REI. I have been researching a ton of deals for small multifamily properties and am having trouble committing. I have a couple problems holding me back.

My situation: I currently live in CT. I have a mortgage and live in a condo with my wife and 6mo old baby. 

     My first problem is we want to house hack to try and avoid that 25% down payment. I live in CT so multifamily properties are mainly between 200k and 400k for anything decent for multi family to live in with a baby. The 200k end being some pretty questionable areas for multifamily houses. So trying to save 50 to 100k for down payment is not exactly easy. 

We have thought about finding a partner to invest,  but my wife is not fully convinced that a partner is a good choice because neither of us know how to get a contract for that type of thing written up and she doesn't want to be taken advantage of. 

Are there any suggestions you guys have to get us over that initial "hill" and start this journey confidently? We are motivated and dedicated to getting this started,  but we can't get past the first step of getting our first deal.  Do we house hack in a not so good area/ property to get started or do we find a partner so we can put that 75k towards a down payment and just stay in our current living situation? 

thanks guys! Look forward to your input