House hacking strategy (NYC)

[Marie Steward]

Hi BP,

After a few years of searching for a single family home (and being priced out of our target neighborhood) my husband and I decided to instead purchase a 2-3 unit multi-family home in the Bronx, NY. We're considering using a low cost financing option like FHA to get into the property. Multi-family properties in our area are ranging from 500k-800k. We would only like to stay in the property for one year, then cash out refi and rent all units. I have two concerns with this strategy. First, unless we buy a fixer and renovate, I'm not sure we'll have enough equity in the property to cash out after one year, especially if the housing market takes a down turn. Second, as we are already in an expensive market, paying closing cost twice (once to get into the property and again to cash out after one year) seems insane. Am I missing something here? Anyone aware of how to best make this work? or is this too risky a strategy to engage in? Again we're newbies and appreciate any advice.