FHA financing on owner-occupied fourplex (second investment)

[Corbin Jones]

Hello,

I have a few questions regarding using an FHA loan to finance on a fourplex. I've read plenty of blogs about the benefits of FHA & conventional financing to house-hack and owner-occupy properties. I currently have a single-family unit in Milwaukee, but I would like to house-hack a fourplex soon through an FHA loan. I have a W2 job that supplies me with $65K per year, and my current rental unit supplies me with $9K in gross rent per year. I have zero consumer debt and no car payments, as I have a company vehicle.

1. When applying for FHA financing on a fourplex (or duplex/triplex), how can I utilize the gross rent in the actual qualification? What if the fourplex is currently vacant? If there are tenants, can I use those rents as qualifying income toward my qualification? How does this part of qualifying work?

2. How can I figure out how much I'll be able to qualify for? I would like to get a rough idea before I go and take a hard hit on my credit from a bank.

3. Where is the best place to locate multifamily units? I love Trulia and Zillow, but it seems difficult to find good units on that site. I have checked out Loopnet a little bit.

4. What is a solid cap rate for fourplex investments? 7% - 9%?

I look forward to your feedback, and let me know if there is anything else that I may have not asked about!