The idea of a multi-family rental is becoming more appealing

[Jason Heard]

As I'm doing my Sunday REI studying, I find myself starting to sway more towards MFR.

The reason being is that the short-term goal is to pay off the mortgage on my primary residence by no later than 2020; stretch goal by 2019. I feel that would leave me with no debt and in a position of flexibility. 

From here is where there are several choices:

• Stay put in the primary residence, a single family home, and purchase another property (SFR) to rent
  • This is, slightly, my option of choice 
    • I will have a place to live free and clear, and wiggle room & safety in case anything should go wrong.
• Rent the primary residence, and finance another primary residence 
• Sell the primary residence and split the equity for down payments on both a rental and primary residence
  • My least favorite option
    • It incurs the most debt and risk. 
    • If something were to go wrong, could lose money with nowhere
• Rent the primary residence and use HELOC for the downpayment on an (MFR) which I live in a unit and rent the other units.
  • This option is slowly becoming my option of choice. 
    • I would have two rental properties and own one outright.
    • As long as the other unit(s) is/are occupied with paying tenants, the mortgage payment would be covered. 
    • Since the MFR would be my primary residence, I could leverage a 203K loan and lump the repairs into it; if the deal makes sense.

That's a short-list of options, as I could keep listing more and more. Has anyone else on here been in a similar situation? What are some pros and cons to these options from your experience?