house hacking a duolex- Should it pay for itself all the time?

[Joe Burden]

I want to do a house hack by moving into a duplex to take advantage of a lower down payment through the use of an FHA loan. There are limited numbers of this sort of property in my area for sale. I am currently attempting to analyze the numbers using the Rental calculator to the best of my ability as I have not yet done a deal. The guy wants 119k and rents are probably going to max at 650 or 700 each. I realize that this is what the guy WANTS and that I should offer lower. It is substantially higher than the w percent rule. My question is "Should I _expect_ this property to cash flow without me adding to the income number in the calculator for my 'Rent' on one of the units or do most folks tough out the year or 2 and refinance some way to do the next deal? I don't want to sit on the sidelines too long waiting for equity.

[Ben Leybovich]

no