Looking for general advice for a first time homebuyer in Providence interested in finding an owner-occupied multi-family home. Looking for general advice on the Providence market and how to analyze a potential owner-occupied investment. I certainly don't want to make a bad investment, but maximizing income isn't my number one goal with this. Looking for a place I'll be happy living in where I can minimize my own cost and build equity.
@Ryan Driscoll are you already familiar with Providence, or is it new to you?
Since it's going to be your primary residence too, I'd recommend checking out any potential neighborhood during the week and on the weekend, in the day and evenings, to make sure you're comfortable with the area. If you have, or plan to have, children, you may want to check out the schools as well.
As far as analyzing the property as an investment, there are a lot of resources here on Bigger Pockets for analyzing multi-family investment properties so I'd suggest just diving into what you can find on this site.
Even if you plan to live in one of the units yourself now, I'd recommend analyzing the property as if you had a tenant in the unit at roughly market rent, to see if the price you're paying still allows it to cash flow (and how much). Someday you might like to move out, or might like to at least have the option, and that's a lot more difficult if it will be cash flow negative when you do.
@Ryan Driscoll I agree with Anthony I suggest checking the neighborhoods out at different times to see what you'd be comfortable with, but I would probably avoid most parts of these neighborhoods (Hartford, South Providence, Olneyville, Manton, Charles, & West End), if I was going to live there.