House Hacking

[Gregory Lamarre]

I live in sunny (and expensive) Miami, Florida. I have a relatively well paying and steady job, and a credit score on the better side of 760. I've owned a comfy 2 bedroom condo for the last six years but I've been toying with the idea of moving into a single home and rent out my current condo. Researching the market I calculated my current condo has roughly between 25-35k in equity, and that's being conservative. 

I can easily clear about $400 monthly in gross income. My girlfriend of 6 years is in on a different strategy I just decided on. I've decided to instead purchase a duplex or triplex, move into one of the units while renting the other(s), and while again renting out my condo. We could potentially live for free while socking away a majority of both of our incomes in order to afford a far better home. 

However the multifamily market here in South Florida can get expensive. The average tag price on  2/2 duplexes in a decent part of town is easily in the upwards of $380k.

Questions: what strategy can we use to carry out this venture? Can anyone recommend a creative financing firm or individual who can help guide me through this? 

Thanks