is a much smaller market, so liquidity and lender appetite might be lower, but you could still carve out small multifamily deals if you have boots on the ground.For hard money lenders, you might check out Kiavi, Lima One, or local lenders like Civic or DLP Lending — but really, local investor meetups (look on BiggerPockets or local Facebook REI groups) can plug you into smaller private lenders too.

As you get closer to buying, I'd recommend shifting more savings into a HYSA to keep your down payment funds liquid and secure.

Property management can be a game changer, e specially for out-of-state multifamily investments.

From a tax perspective, STR income is generally reported on Schedule E if you’re not providing hotel-like services, which avoids self-employment tax.

House hacking can be powerful, but timing is everything, and forcing it could backfire.Out-of-State Investing with Property Management:This is a solid option, especially since you already have ~$20K in liquid assets, and potentially more with the 401k loan (though I’d only pull that if the deal really justifies it).

I have seen some transactions go a bit over appraised value based on FF&E and revenue potential. 

I like that a lot .. plus building new homes has been very nice and having the cash I got from selling the homes allowed me the liquidity to get horizontal and vertical construction loans.. 

Or you could also decide to liquidate them and move the money into a different market with good potential or other investment vehicle/s, etc.

Deals will always come—but staying liquid gives you negotiating power.Not a big fan of the "Creative push" out there right now as anything “creative” should still pencil out conservatively which is not being taught.

In addition, they told us they provide a liquidation service so you could pull out up to 90% of the limit.