First time house hacking

[Kyle Williams]

Hello,

My parents recently were foreclosed on and lost their house.  They currently are living with my brother in a small one bedroom townhome.  I've always wanted to get into real estate investing myself and am considering making a leap within the next 6-12 months.  I'd have to save up a bit for a down payment.

I am curious what others' opinions are on an idea I had. I am a complete newbie (keep this in mind) and I was thinking of purchasing a multifamily (1-3 unit) home near where they both work in a downtown part of a Chicago Suburb. I'd have my parents as one tenant (I could live with them as well if I decide too, could this help in an FHA loan?). But the other units I would rent out. I'd be looking to do a house hack, renovating the entire building while my parents (+ myself?) live in one of the units- Preferably, the one that needs the most updating. As the others would be in a decent enough shape to currently lease out. I'd actually be looking for places that already had tenants in place. I'd hope to rehab the unit that my parents live in (+ myself?) and as the other unit's leases come to an end if the first rehab finishes we could move on to the next unit. Just do it one unit at a time, until all are finished.

My only hold back on this is having my parents as tenants.  Can I trust them? Would I be able to actually treat them as tenants or would I let a late rent payment (paying bills on time obviously was an issue for them, hence a couple foreclosures in their past) slide here and there?  My father is quite the handyman so I would be relying on him anyhow for a majority of the expertise in fixing the place up.  I figured if their rent was low (say half price what it should be?) then they should be able to afford it.

Thoughts?

I'd appreciate any feedback as I just want to get a general opinion on the idea as a whole. THANKS!