2nd house hack financing

[Jonathan Bebey]

Hello BP community, 

I am looking for some advice on how to succeed for my 2nd house financing.

I bought a $475,000 SFH with 4 bed/3 bath in Phoenix, AZ April of 2023. I am currently house-hacking while co-mingling in my house. I put 5% down using a conventional loan and my current PITI is $2850 and currently receiving ~$2700 a month from my tenants. I am looking to move out & buy a 2nd home and rent my place for about the same price my tenants currently pay (Negative cashflow $150), but I know financing the 2nd house hack can be challenging due to a high DTI ratio and not seasoning myself as a landlord for >2 years for taxes. I am looking to put down another $40-50k for another property with a conventional loan again.

My questions are this:

1) Is it true if you have a signed lease & produce taxable income on your Schedule E for the prior year you can have a lender account for 75% of your rental income against your DTI ratio when attempting to purchase a 2nd home?

2) Is it worth it to move out of my house & get a rental for myself for a few months to rent out my current house prior to attempting to purchase a 2nd home to reduce DTI and show proof of consistent income to make a lender more willing to give you a loan?

Thanks for any help with this!