House hacking opportunities within an hour commute to Midtown NYC

[Sean Tracey]

Hi, 

I kind of gave up on the idea of house hacking within my area because of a few factors:

• High prices in NY for not much value in my opinion.
• Currently like where I am living and am a bit stuck there due to it being a co-op and gf not being able to rent place out for more than 2 years at a time.

Then I thought:

• FHA loan could allow us to buy a higher cost multifamily property (if it makes sense) for very little down, and use a 203k loan to force a bump in equity if done right.
• Can live there for a year, then move back to co-op and rent out unit we're vacating. 

I haven't thought about this for too long, so I'm not sure of exactly what type of property and price point I'd be aiming for, but something like a triplex or quad for 450k or under within an hour's commute to midtown by some type of public transportation. I could potentially drive if it was an absolute necessity, but I'd rather avoid it. I'd like to buy a place that needs some work, so that I can increase my equity and try to borrow against it to fund more RE purchases. 

Any suggestions for markets or tips for making something like this work would be much appreciated.