1st Time Home buyer with a family... Bonus Option??

[Vance Dhooge]

So I am obviously new to all of this and at this time just doing some investigating. I am in my early 40's and have never bought a home. The home I live in now with my family was purchased by my wife before we got married. I have never been added to the mortgage or the deed because we thought that we would capitalize on the fact that I would be a first time home buyer when we decided to trade up.

Now after investigating the real estate game for a while I have formulated a new plan... or theory. Since I don't have a lot of capital to get started in this game I have started looking at duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes with the thought that I could purchase one of these properties as if I was going to live in it and rent out the rest of the units. This way I could buy the property with little or nothing down. I would list the property as my primary address and not rent out that unit for the first year or two then change my primary address back to the house I live in with my family. Since this property is closer to work I could even stay there a couple nights a week while doing some work to the property. 

My question is... Is this possible? Is it legal? What are some of the possible pitfalls I should watch out for?

This being said... I have located a duplex that has recently been updated that I could purchase for 120K. Each side is 3 bedroom 2 bath and rent for $1000 each so I could almost cover my expenses for the first couple years with only 1 unit rented out. Does this sound like a good opportunity or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Vance