Newb question on house hacking

[David Zimmer]

I currently own a townhouse and am interested in the house hacking idea. Given that I already have a mortgage on my current property, would I have to sell this one if I were to want to move into a triplex in a house hacking situation? Is this the only way that you could get into another property with only 5-10% down?

[Frank Avallone II]

Hi @David Zimmer, glad to hear you are interested in doing this. I am a real estate investor and mortgage lender. I can definitely help you out with this scenario and work out some of the logistics. A lot of what was already said is accurate, just depends on what the plan is. 

@Miller McSwain had some great info and these are some of the complications that can occur. 

The other thing I don't believe anyone mentioned yet is that when buying a multi-family with a conventional mortgage there is different financing guidelines. Typically, you have to put down 15% on a multi-family if using a conventional mortgage.

The "house-hack" usually is involving the FHA mortgage because with this loan type you can use it for a primary residence 1-4 units with as little as 3.5% down.