First time House - Owner Occupy

[David Santore]

I'm looking to buy my first home, but I can't afford to buy a single family so I started looking into multi families so I can rent the other unit and help with a mortgage.  I'm now looking at a multi unit from the investment side now vs. the personal housing side, but I of course can't just give that up since I'd be living there too.

My goal is live there for a bit and at some point, move out and then both units can be used as rentals.  I guess I am just unsure if I should be treating an owner occupy experience differently than a single home or a true multi-unit/investor perspective.  Is there a certain rental amount that a monthly rental payment should be compared to the mortgage?  Where I am (Boston) I would not be able to cover the mortgage completely via rent so I would be paying as well (albeit a smaller amount)