Transitioning from house hacking a small multi-family

[Eric Sipe]

Hello,

First of all, I am new here; thank you all for being part of this community.

I have recently started my journey in real estate. I am committed to buying a small multifamily property (duplex or triplex) in/around St. Petersburg, Florida. I am going to house hack (live in one unit of the property while renting out the other one or two units).

My question is this: how do I transition from house hacking a duplex/triplex to having a real house of my own and also expanding my RE portfolio? I obviously want to have a house (but would be fine living in another small multi-family for a while) but also want to keep buying other rental properties. Is there a good way to achieve this? I have read multiple articles and watched many videos about house hacking, but none say what to do AFTER your house hack. 
Thank you,
Eric

[Victor So]

@Eric Sipe

Hey!

I think there are different approaches to this as one method may not be suitable or appealing to everyone. But, one way, would be -

(1) Use a FHA loan to buy a property to house hack with only 3.5 percent down, put tenants in one unit and you live in the other unit for a year (this is one of the rules you have to abide by).

(2) Then, after a year, refinance out of the FHA loan into a conventional loan.

(3) Then, buy another multifamily property with a FHA loan where you can househack.

(4) Move into new property, put tenants in your previous unit, and repeat.

Hope this helps!

Victor