Newbie looking for advice on refinancing and multifamily purchase

[Kalu Adane]

Hello, I apologize in advance if this post has been brought up in the forums. I searched and couldn't find a scenario exactly like my own so I thought it couldn't hurt to post.

Quick background:
My wife to be purchased a home in 2015 for 310k. Then we got married. According to Zillow/Redfin, the house is currently valued at 665k. Our goal is to purchase a multifamily unit and house hack it somehow. The market in Bothell, wa is super competitive for Multifamily properties. 

 I am now at a point where my credit is in the 800s, No debt, good paying salary.  We are trying to determine how we can purchase a multifamily unit. I spoke with her mortgage officer and he didn't make me feel confident about our options and did a poor job explaining how to utilize refinancing for our goal.  
Our goal is to either:
1. sell our home, and find a multifamily unit to house hack  
2. Refinance, take out some $ and use as downpayment on a duplex/Triplex under my name and hopefully only put down 3.5% since I am technically a first time home buyer. BUT because my wife is currently not working, if we refinance, it'll have to be under my name.  

My question is this: Would I lose a lot of benefits as a "first time" home buyer if I refinance now? I want to make sure that I don't blow my first REI purchase.
Thank you in advance. I appreciate it. 

[Sherief Elbassuoni]

@Kalu Adane, have you also considered taking money out of the HELOC of your current residence.

You will need to run the numbers for the three options and see which one of them makes more financial sense