Hi Shea, I bought a duplex a few years ago and financed through FHA. It would have been tough for me to qualify for conventional because banks requied 20% down on 2-4 family props and cash was tight at the time. FHA mtgs only require 3.5% down so it is nice especially for newer home buyers. You pay for it though... There is an upfront fee of ~1% I believe and the pmi is extremely high. I Payed 192k for my duplex, the up front fee was 2k and the pmi is 167 a month. The worst part of the pmi is (on a 30yr fha mtg) it is locked for 5 years no matter the ltv. After the 5 years, it's not until you hit 78% ltv until eliminated. (Compared to 80% with conventional). on the flip side FHA usually offers the lowest market interest rate and credit scores do not come into play as much as conv. I locked In at 3.5% rate where I got quotes for conv at 3.85% (this was back in 2012).
As far as obtaining financing for an owner occupied duplex, it is no different than buying a sfr through fha.
Another cool thing about FHA, (and I was able to take advantage of this) after a year, you can move out and keep the prop as a rental without changing the mgt terms. You can then potentially get another FHA mtg on a 1-4 family prop which can quickly increase your re footprint. -theoretically, you could have 8 units after 1 year, all with 3.5% down and with a low, consumer based interest rate.
looking back, I wish I could have scrapped together the cash to avoid fha fees, but it got me started in re investing so I am glad I did it... hope this helps! (and make sure you talk to your lender/professional for full details)
