Renting out current house and buying duplex with FHA

[Krista Pereira]

Hi Bigger Pockets Community,

I currently own a single family home in CT where I live with my fiance. We have been wanting to get into investing for a while and finally settled on BRRRR to build passive income.

I cannot sell my current home because I just refinanced to a 30 year fixed rate conventional mortgage and must hold the loan for at least 6 months. We have been looking at duplexes in a near by city that cost $400k-$500k. We do not have enough money to put the required 15% down for a conventional mortgage so we were thinking my fiance could apply for an FHA loan and I would be the co-borrower. Then we would move into one level of the duplex and live there for a year while we renovate it. We would also rent out the single family home we are currently living in. After a year we would refinance the duplex to get more cash for a down payment and then repeat the process.

Please let me know if I over looked anything. Is it better to take a home equity loan on my current house to get the cash for the down payment and apply for a conventional mortgage? Can I be a co-borrower on an FHA loan if I already own a home?

Also looking for realtor in New Haven County who understands BRRRR :)

Thank you!