Mortgage financing questions

[Erick Caffarello]

Greetings...

I've been searching for creative ways to finance rentals/investment properties, as I'm fairly new to the game, and work a typical 9-5 job.

I'm just starting out, but lack the 20% down payment required by the banks. I have an FHA loan on my current house which is my primary residence. I'm wondering if I can refinance it to a conventional, and then get an FHA loan on a duplex where I'd live there for a period of time while renting out the other side. On the Bigger Pockets email that went out this weekend, there was a topic on duplexes where you could get an FHA loan as long as it was your primary residence for 1 year. If that's the case, then I think I'm starting to make some progress.

My thought is after living there for a while, to refinance the duplex to a conventional and repeat the process.  Would doing so get me around the 20% down payment?

Or, is there another way to get around the 20% down payment that anyone is aware of?

Thanks for your help guys.  

Erick