Multi-family House Hack vs Renting and other General Questions

[Corey Bruyere]

I'm a frequent visitor and listener of the Bigger Pockets forums and podcasts. I'm looking for some insight on my plan of action to get into real estate investing, so please bear through the back story along with the subsequent newby questions.

I'm a twenty something year old aspiring real estate investor looking to buy locally first--Ideally Long Beach, CA or any city near LA that doesn't have rent control. I plan on continuing to work full time while doing rei on the side so I don't want to jump into anything that will take up too much of my time right now. 

I'd like my first rei investment to be a multi-family so I can owner occupy it using FHA. My 2 primary focuses right now are having a decent place to live and jump starting my rei portfolio, so I'm pretty set on this method of investing. I'd like to live for free or at least as cheap as possible while continuing to slowly build equity by cheap rehab and holding. I don't plan on living in the unit any longer than a year and a half, in fact I'm hoping my job will take me somewhere else allowing me to use another FHA loan. That is the general outline of what I want to do and here are some questions I have:

• Is it financially smarter to rent in a hot market like So Cal and buy out of state?
• Is positive or equal cash flow a thing in So Cal market?
• Do I need to calculate my personal "rent" for the unit I'd live in when calculating possible cash flow?
  
• What's a good exit strategy for FHA house-hack investing? Should I refinance at some point, and when? Should I sell when I'm ready to move on?
• Is buying an investment only to short term owner occupy a good idea/legal?

I know these aren't very general questions and kind of pertain to an expensive market or someone in my exact position, but I'm just looking for some general insight or advice from people who has done something very similar to my plan of action. What other advice could you give for buying, owner occupying, and house-hacking a multi-family, FHA bought house?

I'm also looking for an agent I could get in contact with soon who has experience with multi's and FHA.

[JD Martin]

1 & 2 I can't answer:

3. That's one way of doing it. It is more financially conservative to leave that "fringe benefit" out of the equation when you work your numbers, but Southern California is such an expensive market that it may take that rent consideration to make the numbers work. 

4. Ideally you hold forever unless a) the appreciation is so great and so rapid that you can tap that equity to increase your portfolio cash flow/equity value greater than holding, or b) you have specific financial reasons for getting out - building is a severe money pit; area is rapidly declining; units are difficult to keep rented at market rates; etc. Otherwise, as your tenants pay down your obligation, it makes less sense to sell. Tapping the equity to purchase more properties might make sense, depending on the market. 

5. Once you've met the legal requirements for residency, you've made it legal. Whether it's a good strategy depends on a lot of other factors, but should (ultimately) come down to the numbers from a financial perspective. When the numbers make sense, and you have considered all known variables and influencing factors, you should take action from a financial point of view. But there are other things in life besides finances.