SFR in St Catharines / Initially primary res then will be rental

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Hello all!

I'm very new to everything real estate and I have been in the books, podcasts and BP forums for a few months and very excited to get started on my first deal! I currently rent in Hamilton ON with my wife and daughter. We are on a strict budget while paying off consumer/student debt / saving an emergency fund and then will be saving a 20% down payment for our primary residence/future rental property. We should have our 20% down payment in the next year and a half. Max price is $400k, but after learning more about real estate investing I'm realizing paying full price and/or buying a move-in ready home isn't the only option. Also doubtful a $400k SFR would break even when used as a rental property. I work in St Catharines ON and we would like to make the city our home.

Any advice when looking at SFRs in St Catharines or generally when you want to initially use it as a primary residence then rent it after you've grown out of it? I'd like to rehab a 2-3bed with a full basement. Convert the basement to a 1-2 bed apartment so that I can increase potential rental income down the road. Any thoughts, suggestions comments on my plan would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Liam