House hacking by living in basement in Northern Virginia (NoVA)

[Aditya Maini]

I am 26 year old living in NOVA area and will likely stay here for the foreseeable future. I currently pay only $900/mo in rent, but I am considering buying a townhome for $350-400k, living in the basement and renting out the rest of the house for $1800-2100. My total monthly costs will be ~$2600 with mortgage, MIP, taxes, insurances, etc. I would be using a FHA loan as I don't have a large downpayment to put towards the house.

I'd want to stay in this house for a few years, then buy another home with a basement (and live in it), and so on and so forth. My goal is to have several properties first, then prioritize on paying them off in 15 years or so.

Is this a good idea? How can I make this work?