i am stuck on which strategy is best for me in acquiring my first investment property. i am 18 years old, in my first year of my electrical apprenticeship. being a first year i am not making enough money to save cash and pay my car payment/insurance every month, and other needs: gas, food, etc. i want to get my first property this year and i thought that house hacking would be the right move for me. i found a duplex that rents $1,250 and already has two tenants inside of it but to be able to afford a down payment realistically i would have to use my FHA and jump in the other side. after talking to some people around me i would be having to pay quite a bit out of pocket every month for the mortgage and i just don't make enough money right now to do that. i want to be great more than anything in this world. this is all i think about all day every day and it drives me crazy. i have to acquire a property this year to satisfy myself. i just don't have the right people around me to help me make the right decisions in the real estate market, so i am trying to figure out all of this on my own and it is getting overwhelming. with my situation what would be the best strategy to aquire a property this year. i am not submitting to saving money for years, i have to do this. i made a promise to myself. 

Investing is putting $ out there that could completely vanish and you still have a roof over your head, food to eat, bills paid etc.. 

That's good food for thought!

If they’re local service-based businesses (barbershops, tax offices, food spots), they tend to do fine.

@Yveson Laurore I'm not operating in this market, so what I'm about to say could be totally wrong but if this is actually in NYC, that's a pretty densely populated area I'd think anyone in that general area would be "OK" living in the vicinity of the correction center. 

A lot of food for thought. 

People have 3 fundamental needs; Food, Water, Shelter. 

Just food for thought

Just today I told a manager that the food wasn’t cold but it was far from hot.

These resources are trustworthy and authoritative, but they can be a bit dense and harder to navigate if you’re just looking for quick comparisons.Lastly, for a more modern and localized view, check out local police department websites or their affiliated crime mapping services like CrimeMapping.com or SpotCrime.com.