Should I sell my townhouses and buy a fourplex?

[Joseph Adjei]

My story started out with buying a townhouse for 270K in a really good location as a primary residence. Since buying it a year ago, it has appreciated about 30K. We are under contract to buy another townhouse (currently under construction) in an up and coming neighborhood for 275K. We plan to move into it for about 6-12 months and then buy another property to move into. We will rent our current home when we move to the new house and cash flow above 150 each month.

Since joining this community I have been really interested in multi-units. Current prices for a fourplex in the neighborhoods I am interested in are north of 750K. I’ll like to buy a fourplex for my next property and house hack it. Though I have not checked with a lender yet I feel I’ll not qualify for a loan of about 750K given I already have 2 mortgages in my name of about 500K. 

Should I sell the two townhouses to relieve myself of the mortgages and buy a fourplex in an equal great neighborhood or keep the townhouses and buy the fourplex in addition?

 Interested to see how people will go about things if you were in my situation.