House Hacking in Today's Market: Old Multifamily Homes or New Construction Townhomes?

Over the last few months, my partner and I have been searching for our first investment property, primarily focusing on duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes to house hack. After underwriting dozens of properties, we've started to notice a trend. Many of the multifamily properties in our market are either:

• -Priced too high to generate acceptable cash flow
• -Outside of our buy box
• -Or located in areas that don't seem to have strong long-term appreciation potential. 

Due to the problems we have listed above, we've recently started looking at new-construction townhomes instead. Some of these communities are offering incentives, and in a few cases it appears we may be able to purchase below current market value, giving us instant equity at closing. Our plan would be to live in the home for at least a year, then convert it into a long-term rental while continuing to acquire additional properties. 

I'd love to hear from investors who have actually gone this route.

Some questions I have thought of: 

1. From an investment standpoint, when does buying a new-construction townhome make sense versus waiting for a multifamily property?
2. If you were starting over today, would you buy a townhome as your first house hack if the multifamily numbers simply weren't working?
3. Does a rental property always need to cash flow on day one to be considered a good investment, or are there situations where strong appreciation potential and instant equity justify little or no cash flow?
4. Since a new-construction home is under builder warranty, would you reduce your maintenance and CapEx numbers during the first couple of years, or would you still budget as if it were an older property?
5. What expenses do new investors commonly underestimate when underwriting townhomes? (HOA increases, vacancy rates, insurance, etc.)
6. What are the biggest risks you've experienced with new-construction townhomes that someone buying their first investment property should know about? 
7. If you own rental townhomes, how have they performed compared to single-family homes or multifamily properties in terms of appreciation, tenant demand, maintenance, and overall returns? 

I'm trying to think long term rather than just focusing on my first property. My goal isn't simply to buy one property, it's to build a real estate portfolio over the next 10–20 years that creates long-term financial freedom and provides a great life for my future family. I'd genuinely appreciate any advice, lessons you've learned, or mistakes you'd avoid if you were in my shoes. Thank you in advance for taking the time to share your experiences. Have a great day, everyone!