Looking to buy a multi-family in Ypsilanti, Michigan "house hack"

[Lawrence Henkel III]

Hello,

I'm new to all of this and I'm looking to House hack a Multi-family in Ypsilanti Michigan. My thought is if I can afford to pay the mortgage without any tenants in the property how do I evaluate if it is a good purchase?  I would view the rentals as extra bonus income. How would I evaluate that property differently than something that was just pure investment?  I think this would be a very safe way to test the water of being a landlord too. I'm I being naive? We purchased our home we currently live in in 2003 and we are at about break-even if we sell it meaning there would probably be enough to pay for the transaction cost of selling it but we would walk away from the sale with nothing. I believe as a rental it would be a negative cash flow property so that is why I would want to sell it. If we did keep our current home we would have to rely on rental income to pay the mortgage and that scares me to start out. Any help or suggestions on any aspect of this would be greatly appreciated. What didn't I think about or what should I think about?

Thanks 

Larry