Thinking of jumping into house-hacking for our first property

[Garrett Adams]

Hello all!

My wife, our infant son, and I semi-recently moved to the Tampa Bay area after I landed a great job in the area. I’m really enjoying the position, and my wife is loving the opportunity to stay home with our son for now while she prepares to go back to school to finish her nursing degree soon.

We've always talked about starting a rental portfolio focused on small multifamily, and it's a dream I've been especially driven to make real. I may have found a tri-plex that could be a great first step. We'd be going owner-occupied with an FHA loan at 3.5% down and likely use a 203(k) Limited to finance a new roof.

Once the roof is done, we’d re-tenant the property with market‑rate leases and move into one of the existing units. From there, I plan to DIY convert the ground-level garage under one of the existing units into a fourth legal dwelling. I'd pay cash for materials and do the majority of the work myself—keeping costs low. Once finished, we'd move into the new unit and rent out the one we were originally living in to complete the full 4‑unit plan, all within the FHA's 12-month occupancy requirement.

Some questions I’d love help with:

1. Any investors familiar with South St. Pete, particularly the Harbordale / Childs Park area? What are your thoughts on tenant class, market rents for 1 and 2bd units, or code enforcement?

2. Has anyone here successfully added a 4th unit through a garage conversion? Any tips on dealing with zoning, floodplain regs, or permitting in Pinellas County?

3. For those who’ve used FHA + 203(k) Limited: any lessons learned or lender recommendations? I’ve read horror stories about lenders freezing draws or rejecting post-close changes—looking to avoid those pitfalls.

4. General advice for first-time house hackers doing DIY improvements on a partially vacant property?

I’ve been doing a ton of research and modeling, and I feel this project could set us up for a strong start. Appreciate any wisdom from the community!

Thanks so much,
Garrett

[Rick Albert]

I did the FHA 203(k) loan for a remodel, addition, and converting our garage into an ADU. A much bigger project than what you are suggesting since you aren't using the loan for the fourth unit.

The big challenge I had was how slow the lender was to cut checks to the contractor. They were so slow in fact that I had to threaten to report them to the CFPB in order to get them on track.

I would recommend either (1) set clear expectations with the contractor that although you are slow to pay, they are guaranteed to get paid because the lender requires the work to get done and/or paying a little more and having the HUD Consultant come out more often to get the checks going out faster (smaller amounts but more frequent).