FHA Appraisals on Multi-Family Residential Properties

[Torhi Joseph]

Hello all, 

I know 2020 is making it tough, but I truly hope that you all are in great health and spirits!

This is the situation:

I am a Real Estate Agent here in Tampa, FL, and I am working for a fellow BP member in order to help him find a multi-family residential property that he can house hack. We have found many great options so far, but found that our options for MFR have been limited because sellers with properties that would pass FHA requirements are not receptive to FHA offers. I spoke to a listing agent on one of those properties, and it was explained to me that they do not accept FHA offers because appraisers will not use all of the property's potential income (due to it being owner-occupied), and thus an FHA Appraisal will fall short of the sales price.

These are my question:

1) Will an FHA Appraiser always use an Income Approach as opposed to a Sales Comparison Approach to evaluate a multi-family residential property?

2) Provided that the answer to question 1 is yes, will an FHA Appraiser really only use one unit to generate a valuation?

Thank you in advance!

Torhi Joseph