Starting out with a 3 Unit.

[John Do]

I am currently working on an off market deal for my very first real estate investment property. The property is a 3 unit located at a very good area in a somewhat popular city. The ask price is $550k with annual rental income of $42k or $3500/mo which is currently under rented. I believe rents could be brought up to $4200-$4500 max. Property tax here is very high at 2.25% or roughly $12.5k/yr. I will be owner occupying so I was already expecting to be cash flow negative however after running some numbers, I think I will actually still be cash flow negative even after moving out and renting all 3 units especially if I include all of the expenses (vacancy fund,maintenance,utilities). It has been a long time dream of mine to get started in real estate investing and I really want to make this deal work but I don't know if it will end up putting me in a bad position for the future? Turn-key 3-4 unit properties that are cash flow positive in low crime rate areas are rare here. All properties around the area are ~100 yrs old however I believe the electrical and plumbing systems have been updated and should soon receive confirmation. The only update I think that would add value is to redo the driveway but it is not necessarily a must. Being as hard as it is to get into the market nowadays, do I bite the bullet or no deal?