Financing a 5-plex - commercial loan?

[Catherine Peters]

Hi BP'ers!

I ran across an MLS for a 5-plex today that is 4 1-bedroom units with a 3 bedroom/3bath attached on the backside and listed as a townhome. I have been speaking with my mortgage broker to see if there's any way to finance this, but she is very pessimistic. I have never done a commercial loan so I'm not sure what's involved and I'd like to get some other feedback on this. She says interest rates are much higher on commercial loans, that I might need as large as a 50% down payment, and then show proof of operating funds in a huge amount, etc etc. We are small timers and were actually hoping to do our next deal as a house hack with an FHA. Should I just move on from this or is there any way to finance this more like an FHA?